The Phoenix Ancients
by topseykrets
Summary: Harry returns from 5th year depressed, Petunia has a self-discovery, betrayal is revealed, and powers awakened. Chaos surely ensues. R&R please. Warning: Slash in the first handful of chaps. Che, so bothersome. u.u
1. Prologue:: The End, or is it?

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Prologue – The End…or is it?**

Dark clouds covered the night sky, effectively blocking out the stars and the moon from view. The only source of light to be found was from the wands and lanterns of an approaching group from the forest. The castle, glowing in its own unearthly light, stood prominently on the lawn that was surrounded by the same forest which a group of one hundred emerged from. Silently, but not at all tactful, a smaller group approached the castle, weapons and wands drawn, prepared for a battle that was likely to ensue. And it did. The guards spotted the group approaching and sent off an alarm before falling to the opposing.

**&**

Somewhere deep in the castle a calm man sat on a throne that shone beautifully in the flickering light of candles. Besides him being calm in a situation that clearly called for chaos, there was nothing peculiar about him…at least on the outside. Edgar Meztli was an average man, of average height, of average weight, and of average powers. Unless of course you weren't an average person, then you would have noticed the carefully placed glamours and carefully placed masking charms placed on his person. Edgar was definitely a man that took great pleasure in causing his opponent to underestimate him. But tonight, he feared the loss of his life, for he knew about the battle that was to take place. Knowing about it did nothing to ease his worries. For he had Seen the outcome of the battle, and for that reason he had dropped the glamours and power masking charms on himself.

Now, standing in place of the average man, was a tall man, approximately two meters, with pale skin with just a touch of tan, but the most peculiar part of this man were the markings on his skin. Starting at the center of his forehead a rune that symbolized his family name, which looked like a crescent moon with a sun connected at the top point, stood proudly in a bright cobalt blue and a white out line that seemed to sparkle with power. Off of the Rune, lines twisted and twirled, making an intricate design around his eyes to form a sort of mask, most of the lines stopping an inch below his eyes. From points of the 'mask' the lines continued in a slight, elegant pattern that traveled its way down his neck, disappearing under his collar. But if one were to follow the tattoos, they would find that they continued their path in an intricate design across his shoulders, where another line sprouted off of the previous line. The two twisted on the outside of his shoulder before one went to his chest and the other to his back. Lines from his shoulder traveled down his arms, on to his forearms lines formed an intricate pattern, which, if his arms were put together, would form a phoenix in flight. On his right palm a sun Rune glowed with inner light and on his left a crescent moon Rune glowed equally as bright. The lines on his back formed a sort of tribal tattoo across his upper back before doing a criss-cross pattern down his spin, then stopped and formed another small tribal tattoo with a primal looking dragon in the center. On either side of the tribal design, a line branched out and met with the line from the front of his body.

The line on the front of his body curved and met at the hollow of his neck, shaping into a diamond before twisting and turning in more intricate, elegant designs across his chest and down his stomach. The lines from the front met with the lines from the back and started a twisting and turning pattern down his legs and ending on his feet.

The man that seemed to exude power stretched, trying to get used to his body once again before running a hand through his shaggy hair. Blue eyes, that seemed to match the same markings on his skin, stared unseeing into the darkness of his room. It was time.

"Arthur, bring me the things we discussed last night." He spoke softly, but the command in his voice was loud. Arthur, who had been sitting by Edgar's side with his master's familiar curled in his lap, stood and went in search of the items in question. Minutes later the boy returned with a small box wrapped in expensive cloth. Kneeling with his head bowed, he offered the box to Edgar. "Thank you my son. You may leave and prepare to defend the castle." The man bowed his head before continuing. "If you can…release Mandara, so she can escape unharmed." Arthur nodded and picked up Mandara, a breed of magical tiger cub, and exited the room.

Edgar looked down at the cloth covered box and sighed. This was his end but it was the beginning of something better, that he was sure. One name made him smile a grim smile, but none-the-less he proceeded to unwrap the box. Opening the box, he pulled out a single dagger encrusted in sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, a ring band that was fashioned in likeness to the dagger, and a necklace that had a piece of black leather as the cord and the family Rune, the crescent moon being made of sapphire and dark silver and the sun's center made of ruby and dark silver with the dark silver points holding tiny emeralds. Walking to the other side of the room, Edgar drew the dagger across his palm then let the blood flow into a basin made of sapphire.

_From my blood_

_To your blood_

Next, Edgar picked up the ring and placed it on his cut hand.

_From my heart_

_To your hear_

_My memories_

_Are your memories_

For a second the ring glowed blue then returned to its normal state. Setting the ring down back in the box, Edgar finally picked up the necklace. Putting the necklace into the basin, Edgar then pushed the sleeves of his robes up and put his arms together forming the phoenix.

_My soul_

_To your soul_

After speaking a few more words, a bright blue glow engulfed Edgar and the basin, in turn filling the entire room in blue light. Once the light cleared, Edgar was gone, the blood in the basin vanished, and the necklace returned to the box with the ring and dagger, which promptly disappeared leaving the room as if nothing of an odd ceremony had just happened.

An hour after the ceremony had been preformed, the castle and inhabitants were defeated by the masked assailants. Having been unprepared and outnumbered, the battle was over soon, but it had not gone on without a fight.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Sorry the prologue's short, although most I've ever read are short, but I needed to get that little bit of information in…and it certainly wouldn't have fit in any chapter…unless I truly made it dream like…bah!**

**Reviews and critiques welcomed! And any thoughts, or ideas, as to make this story better are welcomed too. Later, luvs.**

**Topsey**


	2. Chapter 01:: Some Truths and Some Deceit

_**Disclaimer – Really now, must I say what everyone else says? It should be pretty darn obvious. Stuff you recognize (meaning published literature) not mine, never will be…although I can hope. Stuff you don't recognize (meaning stuff that's not published) mine…which is just pretty much the plot…and some OC's. I'm only putting this up in this chapter, so don't go looking for this in any other chapter. Anywho, on with the story!**_

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Chapter 01 – Some truths and some deceit.**

In a 'perfectly normal' house on Privet Drive, in Surry, England, a boy of the age of fifteen, almost sixteen, woke with a start from his dream. Normally, he would have woken up in a cold sweat or in pain, but none of that was present this time. The reason he had woken up was because he had a dream that seemed like he was looking into the past at a previous battle and power transferring ceremony. He had felt the power behind the ceremony as if he had been in the room, shaking his head to dispel the uneasy feeling of déjà vu, the boy climbed out of his bed and stood by the window.

It seemed, that after the death of his godfather, Harry had been experiencing dreams and visions almost regularly; occurring practically every time he closed his eyes for a kip. Visions of how he had wronged his parents, Cedric, and Sirius flooded his mind night after night, never seeming to fail to appear every night. Except for this night, tonight he hadn't had a dream of his parents, or Cedric, or Sirius. No, he had dreamed, or rather Saw, an odd man transferring his powers to his chosen descendants. Now the only question was: Why?

Sighing, Harry leaned his head against the cool window hoping the cold would stem the headache that seemed to be forming. He was stuck in his room for the night, since Uncle Vernon had found it prudent to 'lock the murderer up'. Harry's forehead left the window for a brief second before making contact with it again…sharply.

If one were to look down on the street below Number Four Privet Drive, they would have noticed a worried looking Auror watching one of the windows on the top floor of the house. Or, if one were to look outside of the bedroom door with several locks, deadbolt, chain, and padlocks alike, they would have seen a woman with light hair standing with her ear pressed against the door with a look of concern on her features. Now, the Auror, who had blue curly hair at the moment, would be seen scribbling something in a notebook while still throwing worried glances to the window. In that notebook were her observations of the boy that resided in the room behind that window, she was recording everything that she witnessed while on 'Harry guard duty', trying to find reason to get him away from his horrid relatives. And so far, she had a journal and half of a notebook filled with worrying thoughts, actions, and numbers of times she had unobtrusively assisted Harry when he was injured, exhausted, or otherwise indisposed.

The woman with light hair was now back in her bedroom, quietly looking for her husband's keys that locked the door that she was previously at. She had been watching her nephew since they had brought him home from the train station for two reasons. One, she was curious as to what had happened at school that had caused him to look so depressed, and two, she was finally seeing her lost sister in him. She had cursed herself one day, when Vernon was gone and she was alone in the house, having felt horrible about the way that she had been treating her sister's son. Now, when she thought about it, she couldn't understand in the least why she had treated him in such a way or why she had allowed Vernon to abuse him physically and emotionally. Perhaps it had something to do with the influx of magic that had occurred that day that stopped whatever had made her feel like that, she wouldn't know. Especially since she didn't know the first thing about sensing anything like that, seeing as she wasn't magical…right? Finally finding the keys, she tip-toed out into the hallway before swiftly unlocking and unchaining everything from her nephew's door, when everything was undone she opened the door before peaking her head in to see Harry leaning against the window with silent tears running down his face. Petunia gasped softly before shuffling into the room to take the boy into her arms.

Harry, having heard his Aunt, had tried to wipe the tears off his face, but froze when she had took him into an embrace, one filled with sorrow and the love of a mother. Sensing his distress, Petunia ran a calming hand over the back of Harry's head, smoothing down the cowlick in the back in the process.

"Shh, Harry. It's ok, let it out, I'm not going to hurt you." Petunia spoke softly and gently, pouring all of her regret of not getting to know him into her voice. After several minutes of silence, Harry finally relaxed into his Aunt's embrace and started crying again. "What's wrong, Harry? Why are you up this early?" Petunia was worried, she couldn't remember ever seeing Harry cry like this since he was little, after one of the beatings Vernon had given him.

For a moment, Harry wasn't sure whether to tell her what was wrong, but felt that he could trust her, that she hadn't meant how she treated him. The next thing he knew, the words came fumbling out of his mouth, causing him to sound like he was babbling. When he got to the end of his tale, they were both crying, and both for different reasons, Harry because of his loss and sense of helplessness, and Petunia because of the sorrow for her nephew having to deal with all of that at such a young age. _No wonder he acts nothing like a fifteen year old, he was forced to grow up and face horrors no one should have had to have faced._ Petunia thought to herself as she walked Harry to his bed and sat him down, rocking him back and forth, whispering words of comfort to him. After a while, his breathing evened out signaling that he had fallen back asleep. Making sure he was comfortable, Petunia walked to his desk and found a spare piece of parchment and a quill. Scribbling a quick note, she blew on the paper so that the ink dried before placing it on the pillow next to Harry's head, then quietly leaving the room before redoing all of the locks on his door. She was going to have to do some serious thinking and she was going to do it now before her whale of a husband and son woke.

**&.&.&.&**

Four hours later, a new guard was put on 'Harry watch' while the previous one left to get some sleep. Or that was what the new guard and Dumbledore thought, in reality the last guard went to find one Remus J. Lupin, who just so happened to be at his own personal cottage. Apparating into the kitchen, she found herself at wand point.

"What did I talk to you about last night?" This coming in a cold voice that sounded ready to attack at any given moment. Knowing Remus, he probably would.

"That we need to keep an eye on Harry, Dumbledore, and Harry's supposed friends, seeing as there seems to be something amiss." Tonks raised an eyebrow before she smirked and then added, "Now, are you going to invite me for tea and ask why I showed up like I did or are you just going to stand there?"

Remus looked at her incredulously before it turned into a look of amusement then nodded before leading her to one of the kitchen tables, wondering the whole time what Tonks could have possibly wanted to talk to him about that she didn't want the others hearing about.

And so, for the next hour, they had tea and biscuits while Tonks told Remus of everything that she had seen and done concerning Harry, she had even showed him her journal and notebook that were filled with her observations. Unfortunately, Remus seemed to have taken the news a little too seriously and was now in a rage.

"Remus." No reply, just mutters about ways to get back at Dumbledore and to remove Harry from Privet Drive. "Remus!" Still nothing. "REMUS JOHN LUPIN!" That did it, Remus looked at Tonks sheepishly.

"Sorry." Tonks rolled her eyes before telling him to sit before going over her plan to help Harry, or as Remus referred to it 'Operation: Rescue Prongs Jr.'

**&.&.&.&**

At Privet Drive in the kitchen, Petunia sat with a cup of tea cradled in her hands. She was sure there was some sort of Charm or something placed on her. For she couldn't think of any reason as to why she would love Vernon, he was the complete opposite of what she had looked for in a man, that and the fact that he hated magic and anything to do with it. That was another thing, she had never disliked magic…until she had met Vernon. Petunia's eyes narrowed, something was amiss and she didn't like it one bit.

Hearing Vernon's heavy foot falls, she quickly emptied her teacup and placed it on the table before going to the stove to work on breakfast, not wanting to face Vernon without thinking more over her and Harry's little problem.

"BOY! WAKE UP AND GET DOWNSTAIRS AND FIX OUR BREAKFAST!" Vernon roared before he came trudging down the steps, already ready for work. "Morning, Petunia dear. Leave the cooking to the freak, let him earn his keep."

On the inside, Petunia was fuming. How dare he treat her like that, like some incompetent doll! And how dare he think that Harry needs to earn his keep! On the outside, Petunia shook her head before replying. "Don't worry about it, dear. I feel like cooking, I miss it you know." Sure, her tone was a little colder than usual but nothing that would alert him to something wrong. Vernon just grunted and read the paper. Finishing up the feast she prepared, she looked up to see Dudley come barreling into the kitchen with a smug smirk on his face then Harry come in with an arm across his stomach and his other hand on his shoulder. His face was blank, but Petunia could see the pain in his eyes. Petunia and Harry's eyes met briefly, her eyes full of concern for his well-being. Almost unnoticeably, Harry shook his head, showing that he didn't want her to worry about it.

"I'll clean the kitchen, Aunt Petunia, sorry I wasn't up early enough to cook breakfast." Petunia's brow furrowed before nodding tightly as she left the kitchen.

When he was left alone in the kitchen, Harry let his emotionless mask fall, pain marring his features. He had been coming out of his room when Dudley had tackled him back into his room, causing Harry to hit his head of the corner of the bad. Then Dudley had proceeded to kick him in the ribs, then stomach, then shoulder. Dudley had left the room feeling satisfied after hearing a loud pop, signaling the dislocation of Harry's shoulder. He had laid there for a tick, gritting his teeth in pain, before forcing himself to go downstairs.

After cleaning the kitchen, Harry walked past the dinning table to grab his chore list, not even attempting to sneak some food. Before he could leave, however, Uncle Vernon spoke up. "Dudley and I are going on a trip tomorrow for Smeltings, while we're gone you're not to do anything freaky and are to mind your Aunt. Understand, boy?" Harry nodded mutely before shuffling out of the dinning room, a grin gracing his face before he schooled his features again.

An hour later, Harry was out in the garden in the morning heat, weeding the side flower bed, when he finally heard his Uncle leave for work and Dudley leaving to go visit Piers. A sigh of relief escaped his lips before he could help it, he truly didn't know whether he could have dealt with his idiotic cousin. Putting down the gardening tool that he held with his uninjured arm, Harry took a deep breath before his nose twitched and the weeding was done. Satisfied with his wandless magic, even if gardening was one of the only things he could do with it, he stood and put all of the tools in the shed before shuffling back into the house. What happened next caused Harry to nearly have a breakdown, whether out of surprise or out of gratitude, we would never know.

As soon as he had entered the house, Petunia was steering him to the dining table, being careful of his injuries, all the while muttering about an 'ungrateful, whale of a son'. After Harry was seated, Petunia had all but ran to the kitchen and grabbed several ice packs and bandages before running back to Harry.

"Harry, I need you to take off your shirt so I know where to put the ice packs and bandages." Harry looked at her dubiously. "Now there's no need to be giving me that look. I want to help you." Her eyes pleaded with him and finally Harry gave in.

"Alright, but you're not going to like what you see." Biting his bottom lip, Harry pulled his uninjured arm out of the shirt sleeve before sliding the shirt slightly so he could pull it off of his head. Harry was mindful of his injured arm, careful not to move it while he slipped the shirt off, even if it did look odd at how he took the shirt off. Petunia just looked at the boy's chest in horror. She had never witnessed what Vernon had done to him when he was having a fit. But here, in front of her, in her own home, a fifteen year old boy, no, young man stood covered in scars. Some looked as if they had been caused by something sharp to cut his skin, others looked as if they were burn scars, but there was one that she would never forget. On his chest, just over where his heart is, was a scar that looked as if the person who had caused it was trying to dig their way to his heart. A well was created after the muscle underneath had been removed. Petunia felt her eyes fill with tears as she looked up into the face of the young man in front of her.

"What did he do to you?" She asked incredulously before setting out to fix his new injuries. Harry just shook his head slightly and patted his Aunt on the shoulder with his uninjured side.

"Nothing that you need to worry yourself over although, I'll need your help with my shoulder, Dudley dislocated it." Petunia grimaced but nodded anyhow. "On three then? Good. One…two…three!"

CRACK

Harry grunted in pain, his teeth clenched against the scream threatening to spill. It would do him no good to have his guard hear him scream in pain in the middle of the day. After several deep breaths, an ice pack, and some pain relievers, Harry was capable of thinking coherently and process what was happening.

"Why?" His voice was barely above a whisper and Petunia almost thought that she hadn't heard him, but before she could question it any further he spoke again. "Why are you being nice to me?" Petunia's face dropped, how was she supposed to answer that?

"Harry…I don't really know how to explain this…" She trailed off before standing and pacing the space of floor between the dining area and the kitchen. "One day, while Vernon was at work and you and Dudley were at school, there was this…surge of something…and I suddenly realized how horrible I had been treating you. My own sister's son!" She stopped pacing and stood facing away from him, but Harry could tell by her posture and her voice that she was regretful and that she was crying. "I couldn't help but feel like I've missed a major part of my life. I just couldn't understand why I would marry someone who hated magic, or why all of a sudden I hated magic and my sister." Petunia stopped for a moment before clearing her throat and continuing. "Harry…I don't know much about magic, but I think someone put a charm or something on me. Several perhaps. Because I don't remember much, other than I hated Lily for being a witch. But that can't be right, Lils and I were the best of friends, we never fought. Nothing! But here I am, married to someone who hates magic and anyone associated with it." At this point, she was openly weeping and Harry had stood up and hugged her, hoping to comfort her while trying to calm his anger.

"Harry…do you think that…Dumbles…or whatever his name is, do you think he was the one that put the charm on me?" Her voice sounded fearful for a minute but calmed when Harry hugged her tighter. "It had to have been him, Harry; he's the only one that could have turned me against Lily, and my parents."

Well, Harry was thoroughly confused…and angered. If his Aunt hadn't hated his mum then that could have only meant that not only his life, but his mother's, father's, Aunt's, and Godfather's life had been manipulated for a long, long time. What Harry didn't know, was that Petunia's thoughts were very similar to his and was glaring at the cabinets over the sink. Next thing that either of them knew, the cabinets that she had been glaring at exploded, sending splinters of wood flying about the kitchen. Petunia shrieked while she tried to protect Harry and herself from the flying wood, then shrieked again when the wood stopped about an inch away from them in a glowing purple shield.

"Ha-Harry, did you do that?" Harry blinked before shaking his head the negative.

"Aunt Petunia…I think…I think that you should have been at Hogwarts with my mother. That was accidental magic, and for once, it wasn't mine." He sounded gleeful, his Aunt wasn't a muggle! Not that being a muggle was bad, it just meant that it could have been possible that he was a pureblood, or that his grandparents from his mother's side were magical. This meant that not only should there be a family Grimoire for the Potter family, but there should also be one for the Evans'. Chewing his bottom lip, Harry grabbed his Aunt's hand before waving his hand and hers carefully, then watched happily as everything righted itself. "I need to go upstairs before Vernon gets home. You might not want to be upstairs tonight; he's going to be gone for a week and will want to take out some frustrations on me. And before you start protesting, don't worry about me. I've dealt with worse." He turned and exited the kitchen before turning back and popping his head back in. "I would suggest getting legal documents prepared for divorce, then get him drunk, have him sign them then go stay with a friend. I would hate for you to get caught in his cross-fire." And again, before she could protest, he was gone.

Well, he did have a point. There was no way that she wanted to be married to that…thing any longer. Quickly gathering her keys and some money, she walked out to her car and left. Trying her hardest not to speed away. In the bedroom with locks on the door, a young man sat with a sad smile on his face.

Harry looked at the calendar next to his bed; it was only a few weeks into summer break, meaning he still had two months of Hell to deal with. Hopefully, his Aunt's marriage would be dissolved. Collapsing from exhaustion, the last thought that passed through his mind was '_Tonight couldn't be worse than any other night…right?'_

**&.&.&.&**

"Remind me again, why did I volunteer to follow you two?" A brown-haired witch asked two red-headed boys that looked the same.

"Well, Hermione, dear…" One started.

"We are sad to inform you," The other picked up.

"That our dearest brother, Ronald," Back to the first.

"And that our dearest sister, Ginerva," And to the second.

"Are not who you think they are." They finished together, both with identical looks of grief, sorrow, anger, and concern.

The brown-haired witch tried to process what she had just heard. "What do you mean, Fred, George?" The twins looked at each other before waving Hermione closer to them.

"It would be easier to show you." Fred said, as he pulled out a pensieve.

"Would you like us to join you?" George asked as he put his wand to his temple and withdrew a silvery thread before depositing it in the stone basin. Hermione took in their grim faces before she nodded.

As one, the odd trio entered the pensieve. Two knowing what was going to happen and one terrified at what she would see. Focusing her attention on the memory, she slapped a hand over her mouth at what she saw and heard.

"When are we getting our money, Dumbledore. You know I'll stop talking to that git if I don't get my money." Ron stated angrily.

"Yeah, I'll stop trying to seduce him if I don't get my money!" Ginny shouted mimicking her brother.

"You know what I have to say, Albus. So there's no use in keeping what is rightfully ours from us." Molly stated calmly, looking at Albus with a smug expression on her face. Albus shrugged, truly uncaring about what was happening.

"Then I suppose I have a trip to Gringotts to prepare for to make a withdrawal from Mr. Potter's account."

Hermione had tears running down her face out of anger and sorrow, Fred and George wrapped an arm around her as the scene around them dissolved and a new one appeared.

"Mum, do you really think this'll work?" Ginny asked her mother as they both leaned over a cauldron full of magenta potion.

"Of course, how do you think I got your father?" Molly said with a smirk that would put any Slytherin to shame. "Now pass me the rose petals, dear."

The scene disappeared and the trio found themselves back into the twins' bedroom. Hermione just stood there in shock. Fred knew what would be coming next so he snatched Hermione's wand out of her pocket while George put a silencing charm on the room and locked the door with several locking charms.

"HOW COULD THEY!" She shrieked before collapsing to the floor, sobbing. Fred and George sank to the floor, comforting the distraught witch, all three consumed by their depressing thoughts. Several minutes passed before Hermione spoke up again. "We should warn him…it's the least we could do. And tell him…that we're trustworthy and would never do what Ronald and Ginerva did." The twins nodded and stood up, helping Hermione up in the process.

"I'll grab a portable pensieve." George stated before leaving the room.

"I'll bottle the memories." Fred said as he walked over to a table with various potions equipment on it.

"I'll write the letter…we should sign it in blood…so he knows it's trust-worthy. Seeing as it's nearly impossible to lie under blood oath." She muttered to herself as she walked to the desk in Fred and George's room, pulling the supplies out that she needed, she wrote the worst letter that she ever thought she would have to write. A letter to her best friend, telling him that people that he thought he could trust had betrayed him.

**&.&.&.&**

A car door could be heard slamming outside the house where Harry lay. He knew what was coming; Grunnings had been going down the drain and were blaming it on Vernon. If the heavy footsteps on the stairs were anything to go by, Harry seriously doubted that he wasn't going to get beat tonight. _I just hope he's not too terribly eager,_ was the last thought that went through his sluggish brain before his bedroom door was thrown open.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Alright, first chapter up. A little fast paced but alls well. Reviews and critiques are welcomed.**

**Oh and, before I forget, POLL TIME!! xD**

**Who shall Harry be paired with?**

**Hermione**

**Tonks**

**Luna**

**Hermione & Tonks**

**Hermione & Luna**

**Tonks & Luna**

**Hermione, Tonks, & Luna**

**Original (if so what race)**

**Other Cannon Female**

**No pairing, just Harry, his powers, and his darling Aunt.**

**xD**

**Just had to give you lot enough to choose from. Now don't be shy dearies, I don't bite. D**

**Okay…that's it luvs.**

**Topsey**


	3. Chapter 02:: Trouble, A Visit & A Castle

**Quick AN : Thanks for all of those who reviewed! It's very much appreciated! Read the note at the bottom after the story when you're done, please? Okay, on with the story.**

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Chapter 02 –Trouble, A Visit, and A Castle.  
**

"_Dear Harry,_

_Hello Harry, I know you wrote that you didn't want any mail this summer, but I'm beginning to think that it wasn't you that wrote that last letter._

_**Alright Hermione, get to the point already.**_

**Yeah Hermione, what he said.**

_Fine. Anyhow, we, that is, me, __**Fred**__, _**and George**_, found out something about Ronald, Ginerva, Molly Weasley, and Dumbledore. Fred and George just showed me the worst thing that I could possibly see._

_**We're really sorry about not writing it down, just in case this gets intercepted.**_

**But we're taking precautions to make sure that no one, Death Eaters or the Order, can catch this letter and package.**

_**We even put on some wards that ensure that only you can open this.**_

**And trust me, they won't want to open it.**

_Right. Well, anyhow Harry, we just want you to know that we knew nothing of what they did. And we feel every bit betrayed as you do…ok, probably not, because this goes a little deeper with you then it does me. But Fred and George are hurting just as bad as you probably will after this._

_**She's right Harry.**_

**Now, enough blubbering you two. Harry, open the box and grab the vial, yes that vial. Now, pour the contents of that vial into the stone dish, then tap the surface.**

_Harry, if you want, we're willing to leave 'You-Know-Where' and take you out of the Dursley's. If you do, just tap the corner of this parchment with your finger three times. And we should be there no longer than a day._

_Alright, I'm going to say goodbye now. Just remember we're still with you Harry, no matter what._

_With love,_

_Hermione, __**Fred**__, and _**George**_."_

"There, that should be good…right, guys?" Hermione asked as she cleaned off the quill they had used to write the letter in with their blood. Fred and George nodded their ascent while looking around for something. "What you looking for guys?" Instead of answering, they each picked up a piece of ribbon, before pushing the box of ribbon pieces to Hermione.

"Pick one, one that you feel pulled to." At her quizzical look, Fred continued. "There's an old tradition, someone who is pledging their allegiance to another, they find a piece of ribbon that they feel a pull to."

"If there's more than one person," George took over, "they twist, or braid, the pieces of ribbon together. Signifying unity of their souls." At this, Hermione started digging through the box before pulling out a piece of scarlet colored ribbon.

"Here, I'll braid them; you two seal the scroll with your charms and the wax." Hermione held out her hand and took the pieces that Fred and George had picked. Braiding together her piece of scarlet ribbon with Fred's sapphire ribbon and George's emerald ribbon, Hermione thought over all of the information that she had just taken in. It all seemed surreal to her, having never thought that anyone could truly hurt Harry like the youngest Weasley's, their mother, and Dumbledore were. "Guys…what…what if they aren't the only ones in on this scheme?" Hermione kept her eyes focused on the ribbon in front of her, running her fingers over the silky material of the ribbon.

Fred put down the ring with their initials engraved on it, which he used to put the wax seal on the scroll. Walking over to Hermione, he crouched down to look her in the eyes. "Well…we're just going to have to make sure that we always put ourselves between him and those idiots, now won't we?" Fred grinned before giving her a quick hug. "Come on, we have a bird to catch." With that, the trio tied the braided ribbon onto the scroll and left the room in search of an owl…of course, not just any owl. An owl that would take the letter and package to London, where it would be dropped off and a different owl would pick it up before taking it to a small town in France, where it would be dropped off once more. Then, a hawk would pick up the package and take it to Harry.

Why the round-about trip? Well…that should be easy to guess. To throw off anyone tracking the package, and with the hawk, no one dare try to take its burden unless they wanted to be pecked and scratched to death.

Oh yes…this package was in very capable hands…er, claws.

**&.&.&.&**

Vernon Dursley was mad. No, he was livid. Grunnings had just demoted him, blaming him for their loss of money. Well, he had been embezzling funds, but he deserved that extra money. He was the reason they had done so well in the first place. And they were calling him on sexual harassment charges. It wasn't sexual harassment if he just looked, and touched occasionally. But that's what those female secretaries were for, weren't they? No. None of that was his fault. It was all his freak of a nephew's fault. It was his freakiness that got Vernon in trouble, not that he had done anything.

Vernon's eyes narrowed as he pulled into the drive, completely missing the fact that Petunia's car was missing from the spot where it usually was. Yes, it was all that freak's fault that he got demoted. As Vernon made his way up to his nephew's room, he grabbed Dudley's Smelting's stick. The freak would deserve everything that Vernon was about to give him. Reaching the freak's door, he threw it open with a bang. In two quick strides, he was hovering over the tiny frame of his nephew.

"Well, boy?! What do you have to say? Think it's funny that you got me demoted? Huh? Answer me!" Not waiting for a reply, the Smelting's stick came crashing down onto Harry's stomach. Harry winced and groaned before turning on his side, inching slowly to the other side of the room. Maybe if he kept the bed between him and his Uncle he'd escape some damage. Unfortunately, Vernon had other things on his mind. Vernon grabbed Harry's shoulder and pulled him from the bed roughly, causing Harry's head to his the metal frame of the bed. Harry's eyes widened when he caught sight of a knife that Vernon pulled out of his pocket. Grabbing Harry's face in a meaty hand, Vernon put the tip of the knife to the base of his curse scar and moved it down his face agonizingly slow. Not able to stand the pain, Harry tried to turn his head away from the knife, only succeeding in making the line jagged and caused it to skim over his right eye.

Harry wasn't sure as to what happened next due to the pain and blood loss. All he could remember was his Uncle kicking and punching and that at some point, the knife was introduced to his back.

Vernon looked down at the now bloody form of his nephew with a look of disgust and satisfaction. Spitting at the boy, he left the room to get cleaned up and to take care of the sudden lust that welled up in him from the pained moans that Harry had emitted during the torture session. Harry curled up into a ball, gritting his teeth against the pain. He knew that there were a couple of broken ribs, he knew his right cheek bone was broken, he knew that on his back his Uncle had carved something into his flesh, and he knew that that was the last time that he would ever deal with it.

Harry couldn't help but let his mind drift to what would happen if he were to gain any semblance of power. The one thing that seemed to always push its way to the front of his thoughts was revenge on his uncle. Torture him the same way that he had been tortured at that man's hand.

The last thought that past through his pain fogged mind was, _Lord help us all if I become the next dark lord._ Then he succumbed to the pain filled fog and black out.

**&.&.&.&**

Petunia Dursley was nervous. She had just come from her lawyer, the same lawyer that her parents had used when they were still alive. The papers that she needed Vernon to sign were tucked away in a manila folder, with little post-it arrows pointing to where her soon-to-be-ex-husband needed to sign. Now, all she had to do was get him drunk enough to do what she wanted without getting him so drunk that all he wants to do is have sex or beat Harry. Thinking of Harry, her eyes widened when she spotted Vernon's car in the drive. If Vernon was home and she wasn't in there, she shuddered to think what the whale had done to her nephew. Quickly parking her car, she grabbed her purse and the folder before darting into the house, hoping against all hope that Vernon hadn't done much to Harry. When she walked through the front door, she had the feeling that Vernon hadn't been kind to Harry. The air reeked of blood, which caused Petunia to cover her mouth in fear of vomiting. Stuffing the folder into her purse so that Vernon didn't see, she left it in the kitchen to find him. As she walked past Harry's room, she heard him moaning softly from the pain. Her face fell; at least he was still alive. When she reached the bedroom, she got the shock of her life. There on her bed, was her soon-to-be-ex-husband masturbating to a recording of the previous beating of her nephew. She lost her battle against vomiting and ran to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach. At least Vernon hadn't noticed her, or she would have had to have pleasured him. And that was something that she wanted no part of.

Rinsing her mouth out, Petunia poked her head back into the bedroom to see Vernon cleaning up. Perhaps if she went downstairs and made dinner, maybe that would get that horrid image out of her mind. She couldn't believe that Vernon got pleasure out of torturing a teenager, it was just so wrong on so many levels. Sighing to herself, she knew that Harry would be ok, he always pulled through after previous beatings right?

After dinner was served, over with, and Dudley had gone upstairs to do lord knows what, Petunia sat with Vernon in the living room, each with a large glass of brandy.

"So Pet, what did you do today?" Vernon asked, slurring his words slightly. Petunia's brows furrowed as she tried to think of something.

"Oh, just went to the grocery store to pick up those candies Diddykins loves so much." She said cheerily, but on the inside she felt like vomiting for the third time that day. The only response from Vernon was a grunt.

Smirking to herself, Petunia set her untouched glass down and pulled out the forms that Vernon needed to sign.

"Vernon dear, Dudley needs you to sign some permission forms for boxing camp." Petunia hadn't expected it to be that easy, but there it was, in plain black ink, Vernon Michael Dursley. They were going to be divorced and her and Harry could escape.

Petunia patted Vernon on the head before taking the folder with the forms and retreating to the bedroom, where she packed a small suitcase and topped it with the folder. After it was packed, she slid it under her side of the bed and waited as she heard Vernon stomping around downstairs turning out all of the lights before stomping upstairs. All she had to do was pretend to be asleep until he was out like a light, then she could sneak over to Harry's room and help him with his injuries and pack a small bag.

An hour later finally found Petunia tip-toeing out of her bedroom to Harry's room. The locks had been left undone so she hadn't needed to go searching for the keys. Opening the door, she felt her heart stop at the sight in front of her. There was just…so much blood.

**&.&.&.&**

"Harry, wake up, honey." A woman with red hair and green eyes called softly to the black haired teen laying on the floor. The woman looked over to the man with black hair and hazel eyes, a look of worry etched on both of their faces. "James…why won't he wake up?" The red haired woman asked softly, worry laced into her voice.

"Lily-flower, calm down. He's just exhausted." James said, his voice sounding just as worried as his wife's. While they were looking at each other, they didn't notice Harry, lying with his head in his mother's lap, open his eyes and watch both of them with more than just a little disbelief. Finally, James looked back down to Harry and grinned. "Harry! You're awake!"

Harry felt his eyebrows rise in surprise, if he was awake…and his parents were here. "Oh god…I died, didn't I?" He groaned as he pulled himself up and away from both of his parents. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was suppose to live long enough so that he could fight Voldemort and hopefully kill the bastard. Harry was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his parents move closer to him, watching him with a worried expression. Harry looked up startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You're not dead, son. You're just…in limbo, so to speak." James spoke softly with a look of slight indifference, but if one were to look closely they would have noticed the underlining anger and concern. "Dursley sure beat the hell out of you. What were you thinking letting that whale of a man attack you like that? What the hell was Dumbledore thinking putting you with that family?" By this point Lily had an arm wrapped around her son's shoulder and James had started pacing, letting himself rant. "And what's this about him putting all those charms on Tuny? How could that old coot do that to her? To us?" A very animalistic growl escaped James' throat. "And that glamour, I always knew something was off about her ever since you came to school our second year upset about the way she acted funny." He shook his head and finally plopped on the ground next to Lily and Harry. Lily raised an eyebrow at her husband before turning her attention back to Harry.

"Alright Harry, now…we don't have much time. Tuny's healing you up right now the muggle way and with what little magic that she seems capable of. Before you go, we need to tell you some very important things."

"Your mother's right. Now, as soon as you feel better, we want you and Tuny to leave Privet Drive and seek sanctuary from the Goblins. Go to Griphook first, he'll be willing to help you especially if you remember who he is." James paused and let Lily continue.

"Request to have our will read; the real will not the one Dumbledore forged. You shouldn't have gone to the Dursley's house; you should have gone to the Longbottom's, Bones', or Diggory's. Now don't look so down; Cedric isn't blaming you for his almost death." Harry's eyes bugged out after hearing that.

"Wh-What do you mean 'almost death', Mum?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You mean Dumbledore let you believe that Cedric died? Yes he was hit with the killing curse but for some reason the only thing that happened was forcing him into a state similar to that of the Draught of the Living Death. Now, Cedric had been here for nearly a week since he was in a coma, but they moved him to St. Mungo's and he is currently in his second month of physical therapy. Really…I would think that someone would have told you that." Harry just shook his head dumbly. He knew Dumbledore had been manipulating him, but to the point where he let Harry believe that he had killed people? That was just low, even for him. Well, one thing's for sure, he was going to be making a trip to St. Mungo's sometime after his 'escape'. Nodding his head, signaling for them to continue, Harry got into a more comfortable position. James stood and took over while pacing again.

"Ask Griphook if he could perform a scan on you. I have a feeling the old coot didn't take off the Baby Binder when you reached Hogwarts, and I think there's a few more that have been placed on you." His eyes squinted in what Harry guessed in anger. Then Lily took over again.

"Now Harry, after the will is read, you should be emancipated; so you can perform magic without being hunted down by the Ministry. But you're going to have to buy a new wand or have a wand crafter remove those horrid spells from your wand." She shook her head to stop the questions from Harry. "I can't tell you. I just know there are some pretty bad spells on the wand." Suddenly, both Lily and James stiffened and looked at Harry sadly.

"Alright son. It's time for you to go, Tuny's worried sick about you. Even got herself a black eye when she wouldn't leave the room after she took care of your cuts. Remember, we love you and are proud of you. No matter what anyone tells you. And…" James looked around before leaning in, whispering conspiratorially. "If you truly have the need to have that fact reassured, we'll see you in your dreams." James chuckled sadly as he brought Harry into a tight embrace. "Love you, son."

Lily was next and couldn't help the tears that ran down her cheeks. "Your father's right, although he wasn't supposed to tell you about the dream thing. We love you very much and so very proud. Be good, please?" Harry nodded and smiled, hugging his mother back. When he pulled away, he wiped the tears off her face.

"No need to worry about me mum. I truly don't want to go, but I have to get rid of Tom…" Harry's eyes took on a determined glint before smiling again. "Love you both. See you soon; I have a feeling that I will." Waving slightly, Harry faded into the abyss.

"I hope he's strong enough…" Lily whispered sadly, still holding a hand to her cheek where her son had wiped the tears from her cheek.

"He is. And he is sure a charmer, and so caring too." James grinned mischievously, before tackling her and tickling her.

Sometimes, things never change…even in the afterlife.

**&.&.&.&**

"Oh god, Harry; please wake up. Lily will kill me if I can't even protect you from that bastard." Petunia whispered hoarsely from all of the crying she had been doing the past two days. Harry had been unconscious for two days, even though it only seemed like a couple of hours to him. Petunia sighed and rested her head against the wall behind her bed. Her fingers came up to her left eye to trace the bruise there, the day Vernon had left, he had struck her when she was 'showing too much concern for a freak that deserved what he got'. Of course, after that Vernon and Dudley had left for their trip, she had moved Harry into her bedroom and covered him with their expensive blanket.

As soon as she was sure that Harry was ok, she had left the house and headed towards the attorney's office. Eager to have her divorce finalized. Her attorney had assured her that tomorrow she would officially be back to Petunia Evans. But now, as she sat with Harry's head in her lap, running her fingers through his unruly hair, she tried to figure how she had gone so off course. She had, when she was little, wanted to help her sister run a store that catered to both worlds; Muggle and Magical. Lily would run the Magical side and she would run the Muggle side. But then, before Lily returned for her second year, Petunia had change greatly; for what reason she hadn't a clue. But that was the year that their rift had occurred and no matter how hard Lily had tried to fix it, it had stayed. Sighing, Petunia looked back down at Harry and let a small smile cross her face. She thought that Harry was exactly as she had wanted her own son to turn out to be.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry's hoarse voice broke through her musings. She looked down to see a slightly tired and amused Harry looking up at her.

"Harry! You're awake!" Harry blinked, déjà vu anyone? "I was so worried, are you alright? I tried to heal you as best as I could but I couldn't be certain…" She trailed off as she heard Harry chuckling softly.

"You know…you're just like mum when you're worried." Petunia's eyes bulged. "Yes, before you ask. I spoke with them while I was out. Dad said something about me being in Limbo…but you saved me." He said with a small smile. "Thanks, Aunt Petunia." Petunia just shook her head and pulled him into an awkward hug.

"People always confused us as twins. Especially before my looks changed," Petunia grimaced, "Though I never figured out why." Harry grunted before pulling himself up slightly.

"I do, and you're not going to like it." Harry shook his head. "We should leave now. While it's still daylight and won't attract any attention." Petunia grinned.

"I packed our bags and they're already in the boot. I went 'shopping' two days ago and when I came back I parked in the garage. So no one should know that we're leaving for good, just that your dear Aunt is taking you somewhere." Harry laughed and shook his head.

"You would be a great Slytherin." When Petunia made a face, Harry laughed harder, causing him to roll onto his right and clutch his stomach.

"You should have seen your face!" He chuckled, and before Petunia could get him, he was up off the bed and quickly limping out of the bedroom.

**&.&. Two hours later – Gringotts Bank &.&**

Harry and Petunia stood in the main lobby of Gringotts bank two hours after they had left the house on Privet Drive. Why two hours? Well…Petunia stopped at a Clinic to have Harry checked over to make sure that there was no permanent damage. The only problem that they had while they were there was explaining what had happened to him. The small cuts all over his arms, chest, and back; the welts over his chest and back; his sprained ankle; his minor concussion; his hairline fractured wrist; and worst of all, the gash on the right side of his face. But after saying that he had gotten into a fight with one of the neighborhood gang members, he was free to go after given a tube of anti-bacterial cream for the cuts, several butterfly bandages over the gash on his face, an eye pad on the cut on his eye(the doctor had some fears about lost of vision in the eye), several bandages on the cuts on his back(his aunt and the doctor had refused to tell him what was carved on his back), a brace for his ankle, a splint for his left wrist, and gauze wrapped around his ribs to secure them.

As Harry looked around for an open teller, he spotted Griphook at the far end dealing with a snooty looking witch. Raising an eyebrow, Harry walked in that direction, stopping far enough back that he could hear the conversation but not close enough to be caught.

"Look you little piece of crap! I said that I want all of my money transferred to my own personal vault in my house!" The lady screeched in Griphook's face, who looked as if he would like nothing more than to strangle the woman in front of him.

"Look, Miss. I have my orders from my superiors that your accounts have been frozen. So no such business can take place. If you have a problem with that then you need to take this up with the Minister. Good. Day. Madam." Griphook growled. The lady looked as if she wanted to say more but Harry interrupted before she could.

"Miss, I do believe that Griphook has told you the reason for your problems and has even given you a way to get rid of them. Now, if you have any further complaints with the way this bank is run then I'm sure the security Goblins would be more than happy to show you the way out." Harry sneered, making sure that he was still in front of Petunia and that his scar was hidden. "Now, as Griphook has kindly said. Good day, Madam." The woman was infuriated but froze when she saw the Goblins Harry had been talking about step from the shadows. Huffing, the woman stormed out of the bank.

Griphook raised an eyebrow in surprise. "First, very nice to see you again Mr. Potter; second, I am honored that you remember my name; and third, I am even more honored that you protected my honor and my superior's honor." He said calmly, bowing his head in respect. "Now, I'm guessing you have come here for some business, correct?" Harry nodded as he stepped closer to the counter.

"I wish to see my parents' will, the real one not the fake Dumbledore had read." Harry said quietly, and to which, Griphook's brow raised again in surprise.

"Very well, Mr. Potter. I shall inform Director Ragnok of your wishes. Is there anything else?" Harry bit his bottom lip, unsure of his next request.

"I'm not sure if it's appropriate of me to ask, but I was wondering if I could see one of the Goblin healers? I have just returned from a muggle clinic with an ok bill of health, except for my physical maladies that you see and some slight malnutrition. But…I'm sort of suspicious to any Wizarding healers as they all seem tied to Dumbledore somehow." Harry cleared his throat before continuing, gaining some confidence from the nod he received from Griphook. "Well, you see, sir. I've learned some interesting things about myself and I'm afraid that there are several blocks on my magical core…" Griphook raised a gnarled hand, causing Harry to trail off.

"I understand your concerns Mr. Potter, we have been wondering when you would come to us with your suspicions. And we have a room in our City that you and your Aunt can stay in while you both recuperate from the magical drain of removing the blocks and your coming into powers if you wish?" Harry just blinked and nodded, not quite trusting himself with words at the moment. "Excellent, I do believe Director Ragnok is ready for you now. I shall go call a healer while you're in your meeting." Griphook smiled and led them to a beautifully carved door that was engraved with Gobbledygook sayings and inlaid with different colored gems. Knocking on the door, Griphook turned and gave Harry and Petunia a small smile that showed his yellowed, pointy teeth. "I shall see you later, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans." With that said, Griphook pushed open the door and ushered the two in before closing the door and setting off to find the healer.

Sitting behind a beautifully carved desk was an older Goblin that looked every part of the fairy tales about evil Goblins. A scowl was firmly plastered on the Goblins face as he gazed upon the documents in front of him. In front of him there were two folders, one that read the name Harry James Potter and one that read Calla Petunia Evans. He had been waiting for these two humans to show for a while now, but had only recently learned that not only were they caught in the manipulations of the old wizard Dumbledore, they had been physically incapable of reaching the bank without being trailed. Had he known earlier, he would have sent a security Goblin to escort them there. Hearing a slight cough, he looked up to find the concerned faces of the two persons in question.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, forgive me. I must have gotten caught up in my thoughts. Please, have a seat." Ragnok waved a gnarled hand towards the two plush chairs positioned in front of his desk then set aside the two folders of his…clients. "Now, I understand that you wish for the will of James and Lily Potter read?" At their nods he pulled out a scroll sealed with the Potter crest in wax and tied with a red and silver ribbon. Clearing his throat, Ragnok read the scroll.

_In the event of our death, this will is to be read. Instead of two separate wills we have agreed to have only a single, combined will._

_We, James Harold Potter and Lily Jasmine Evans-Potter, of sound mind and body, hereby bequeath: one million galleons and the blue and silver trunk to Remus John Lupin; the red and black trunk, the green and gold trunk, and the Marauder's Journal to Sirius Orion Black; five hundred thousand to Calla Petunia Evans; and the rest of our possessions to Harry James Potter, including the Potter vault, the Brennan vault, the Evans vault, and the trust vault until he becomes of age._

_Upon our death, Harry is to be placed in the custody of one Sirius Orion Black; if said person is unable to accept custody then he should be placed with one of the following families in order of who gets him first to last; Frank and Alice Longbottom, Amelia Bones, or Amos and Delilah Diggory. Under no circumstances is Harry to be placed with Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Only under the circumstance that Calla Petunia Evans divorces Vernon Dursley is she allowed custody._

_Upon Harry's emancipation, he is to receive the blue and green trunk left with Griphook of Kezan and the estate on the coast of France, Brennan Manor._

Ragnok looked up from the scroll to find shocked and tearstained faces; of course he was used to these sort of reactions, so he pulled out a muggle box of Kleenex and passed it to them.

"The rest of the will is just Legal garble. Do you wish for a couple of moments or do you wish to proceed with the Legal process?" If it had been any other wizard besides Harry, they would have been in shock at the concerned, caring voice of the Goblin in front of them. But seeing as it was Harry in front of the Goblin, no shock occurred…other than that from what had been read in the will, of course. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Harry looked up and met the yellow eyes of Ragnok.

"I'm ready to proceed, sir. What needs to be done?" That was all Ragnok needed, he pulled out a few papers from both of the files in front of him then pulled a small, ornately carved box and a small, stone basin out.

"First, I need you to place your hand in the bottom of this basin and prick your finger on the spike at the bottom and leave it in there for several seconds after I fill it with the Inheritance Potion." Harry nodded mutely as he watched Ragnok pull out a larger beaker full of shimmering silver liquid. This was all happening so fast; he hadn't realized that there would have been that much hidden from him. His vaults, his homes, his chance at a caring family, all because of Albus bloody Dumbledore.

Once the potion was in the basin, Harry cautiously placed his hand into the cool liquid. Hesitating only slightly, he pricked his finger as he was told. Unfortunately for Harry, Ragnok had not informed him that the potion would cause an intense pain in the open wound; thus causing Harry to bite his bottom lip forcefully to stop himself from crying out in pain. Pain that so reminded him of a Cruciatus curse. Finally, after a tense few moments where Petunia was calling out to Harry once she saw that he was in pain and Ragnok was looking shocked at the piece of parchment that lay in front of him. This parchment was no ordinary parchment, it was the parchment used to outline the Inheritance of the customer. As soon as the potion enters the body of the one being tested, writing appeared on the parchment stating which houses the person in question was to inherit.

Yes, for that was the reason Ragnok was so shocked. He had known that the Potter child would inherit the Potter, Brennan, Evans, and Black titles, but he had not known about the one that was thought long gone…Meztli.

Meanwhile, Harry collapsed back into his chair panting heavily while Petunia wiped his face off with a tissue.

"What on earth-?" Harry panted, but once he caught the look Ragnok was giving the parchment, he suddenly didn't want to know. "Never mind, can you tell me what that says after I'm looked over by a healer?" Several seconds passed by in silence before Ragnok shook himself from his shock and nodded in acquiescence.

"No problem, Mr. Potter. All you have to do now is sign your emancipation papers and the papers showing that you've heard and accepted your parents' will." As he was saying this, Ragnok pushed a couple of pieces of parchment over to Harry's side of the desk along with a muggle pen.

After all of the parchments were signed, Ragnok slipped the ornately carved box over to him. "Those are the signet rings to the families that you now Lord over. But," Ragnok stated, causing Harry's hand to stop from opening the box, "perhaps it best to save that revelation until after you are fully healed? It goes in hand with the reason you didn't want to learn what had happened." Harry's eyes widened and gulped visibly. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all; maybe he should have just let Dumbledore overlord him. After a few more moments of thoughts along that same path, Harry snorted. Yeah right, like **that** would ever happen. Placing the box back on the goblin's desk, he swallowed several more times before he regained his composure.

"Is that all for now then, sir? I'm feeling quite exhausted." Emphasizing his point, he yawned and rubbed at his tired eyes. Ragnok nodded.

"Of course. I'll have Griphook lead you down to our City." After that was said, Ragnok pushed a clear stone on his desk, which turned blue then red then back to clear. Several silent, contemplative moments later, Griphook reappeared in the Director's office with the trunk that Harry's parents had left for him. "If you need anything, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, feel free to stop by my office any time." Bowing his head slightly, he picked up the files and turned away from the two humans in his office, unwilling to show the emotions playing on his gnarled face. The news that an heir to the Meztli family hit him hard, almost as hard as the fact that the kid's family's whole history was hidden from him; and in the Goblin world that was one of the worst kind of crime other than treason.

Blinking away his confusion at the sudden dismissal, Harry stood and stretched, causing several pops from his back and shoulders. "Thank you for you help, Director Ragnok." Bowing his head in a similar fashion as Ragnok had done, he followed Griphook out of the office and towards a darkened hallway. "Pardon me, Griphook. But…how are we getting to the City?" Harry asked as soon as they reached a dead end at the end of the darkened hallway. But as soon as he asked it, he wished he hadn't; for as soon as he spoke, Griphook grinned a mischievous smile and snatched both of the human's wrists before disappearing in a flash of light and flames.

When they reappeared they landed with a dull thump and an 'oomph'. Harry went to ask 'what the hell was that?' but was cut off when his Aunt gasped and pointed in front of her. Harry turned, curious as to what would work his Aunt up like that and nearly had the same reaction. There in front of them was a magnificent city that one would never associate with goblins, unless of course you were Harry Potter or Calla Evans. The city seemed to be made out of gold, and it certainly wouldn't surprise Harry if it actually were, and silver. The houses were small bungalow style, the windows made of thin sheets of gems, the door handles made of gems. But the most magnificent site was the castle that sat on top of a hill. Made of gold, silver, bronze, platinum, and oxidized uranium, the castle stood tall, looming over all of the other places of residency. Like all of the other homes, the castle windows were made of thin sheets of different colored gems.

The only thing Harry could think of as Griphook led him and his Aunt towards the magnificent castle was, _'What on earth did I get myself into this time?'_

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Yay! Chapter two is up! Sorry it took so long to get it up, but…I didn't know where to stop, so I just kept writing…then erasing…then writing some more….then erasing some more. Well…you get the idea.**

**Any how, update on the poll! xD**

**Who should Harry be paired with?**

**Hermione – 2  
****Tonks – 2****  
Luna – 4  
Tonks & Luna – 1  
Original – 0  
Other Cannon Female – 2  
No Pairing – 1**

**Okay, I'll add some other cannon females so you have a choice.**

**Hannah Abbot (Hufflepuff)****  
Fleur Delacour (Last year at Beauxbatons)****  
Susan Bones (Hufflepuff)  
Daphne Greengrass (Slytherin)**

**VOTE PLEASE!**

**Mm…here are some other suggestions that I received, too.**

**Harry/Hermione sibling bond; Harry/Calla(Petunia) family bond; Hermione/Weasley twin A; and Luna/Weasley twin B; and Snape good, still a bastard, helps Harry & Calla.**

**Woo!**

**Review please!**

**Oh…and if you guys want me to slow the story down a bit and put in more details about what's going on between Harry and Calla, just tell me, yeah?**

**Topsey**


	4. Chapter 03:: Blocks Pranks Snape oh my

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Chapter 03 – Blocks, Pranks, Snape, and Some Reflection.**

After a short walk, Harry and Calla found themselves in a medium sized room in the Goblin's Healing Center in the castle. The room looked like any other standard hospital room, white. Everything was white. Even the metal instruments were white. The whole process of getting settled into the room was quick; they were changed into a comfortable pair of cotton pajamas, Harry's were a dark grey t-shirt and pant set while Calla's were a light grey camisole and Capri pant set; then they were told to lay down and get comfortable on the beds while they waited for the Goblin Healer to show. When Griphook had left to fetch Healer Dzetum, the female Goblin healer that had been assigned to them, Harry and Calla started talking.

"Harry…do you think this will hurt much? I mean, do you think that they'll be able to take the block off of me? It's been there for so long…" She trailed off with a slight look of despair, she finally had a chance to be like her sister but yet there was a possibility that it wouldn't work because it had been placed on her when she was younger.

"Aunt Callie, it'll work, I'm sure Healer Dzetum can take off the block that the old coot put on you. Besides, you don't need to worry about anything since that show of accidental magic back at the house; I think the block that was put on your magic was slowly cracking anyhow. So really, there's nothing you need to worry about, dear Aunt Callie." Harry smiled winningly as he looked at her from his bed.

"You're correct, Mr. Potter. The magic block already has been cracked so hers shall be the easiest to remove. Yours on the other hand shall be a great challenge." Healer Dzetum stated as she entered the room and locked the door after an assistant came in. At Harry's confused look, she continued. "Let me perform the scan again and I'll show you what I mean." With that, she stepped up to Harry's bed and waved her hand in an intricate pattern. Harry felt a tingle and then was amazed when writing started to appear in front of him and the healer. "Baby Blocker, placed on by birth parents when you were nine months old; Quixtor Block, placed on by Albus Dumbledore when you were seven years old, eleven years old, twelve years old, thirteen years old, thrice when you were fourteen, and once more when you were fifteen, which was recently placed on you; loyalty charms towards Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley placed by Albus Dumbledore, and Ronald Weasley and Ginerva Weasley placed by Ginerva Weasley; Glamour Charm; Talent Blocker, which is blocking sixty percent of your Parselmouth, and is fully blocking wandless magic, beast speaking, metamorphmagus, animagus, multimagus, and transporting; an Attitude Charm, making you shy, foolishly brave, and trustworthy, placed on you when you were three by Albus Dumbledore; and there is a Attraction spell towards Ginerva Weasley placed on you the same time the last Quixtor block was placed on you." When she was done speaking, not only was she angry that a youngling would have so many charms and blocks on him but she was angry that her superiors had never noticed when he had been in. Harry on the other hand didn't know whether to be angry, shocked, depressed, or incredulous. So he went with all of them, making him look extremely sick. Several moments passed when the occupants were lost in their own thoughts; Dzetum thinking of a way to let in to her superiors without losing her job and honor, Harry thinking of what he had done to deserve all of those charms to be placed on him, and Calla…well, she was thinking of different ways to kill and torture Albus Dumbledore and the Weasleys that were mentioned. Dzetum was the first to come out of her thoughts. "Now, I suggest we start with Ms. Evans, seeing as she only has three charms on her; the Quixtor Block, the Talent Block, and the glamour. While I'm removing the blocks from Ms. Evans I suggest that Junior Healer Pulifi heal you, Mr. Potter. Then when I'm done with Ms. Evans, Pulifi can check her over while I remove the blocks from you. Does that sound okay?" She looked between the two, hoping that they would go along with it.

"That sounds great, Healer Dzetum, that is…if it's alright with you Aunt Callie?" Harry asked softly, turning his wide hopeful eyes towards his thinking Aunt. A few silent moments passed where Harry was fidgeting endlessly and Calla was thinking. Then she nodded, earning a grand smile from her nephew.

"Excellent." Dzetum exclaimed before bustling over to Calla's bed, waving her hand the whole way over. As Dzetum went over to Calla, the Junior Healer that had come with the healer went to Harry's bed.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, I'm Junior Healer Pulifi and I'll be healing you while Healer Dzetum takes the blocks and glamour off of your Aunt. Then after she is done with your Aunt, she'll be removing the blocks and charms from you." The small goblin explained as she waved her hand over Harry's injuries.

The bones in his wrist were easily mended, as were the cracked ribs, concussion, sprained ankle, welts, and the minor cuts. But what gave the Junior Healer pause was the gash on Harry's face and the large cuts on his back.

"The cuts on your face and back, were they done magically?" Pulifi asked as she paused with her hand directly over the gash on his face, her eyes closed, and a thoughtful expression on her face.

"N-no, m-my u-un-uncle did it. Why? What's wrong?" Harry replied slowly, suddenly worried.

"Nothing's wrong, Mr. Potter…unless you're incredibly vain." She paused again before trailing a delicately manicured finger along the gash, earning a slight wince from Harry. "These cuts won't heal magically, which means that the knife used was coated in an illegal potion that causes the wounds inflicted with it to be unable to heal." She paused once more before placing a small hand on Harry's injured eye. " I can repair your vision, simply because your eyelid took the brunt of the potion." His eye felt a little tingly but that was it as she healed his eye.

Pulifi climbed off of the bed she had climbed on to heal Harry easier and walked to the short counter in the room. While her attention was on the counter, Harry shifted his attention to his Aunt. It looked as if Healer Dzetum had started easy and removed the glamour first. Calla now looked like his mother's sister; gone was the blonde hair, dark eyes, and horse face, and in its place brilliant red hair, pale jade eyes, and a heart shaped face. But Harry was little worried about his Aunt's appearances, simply for the fact that she seemed to be in a significant amount of pain. Just as he swung his legs off the side of the bed to go comfort his Aunt, Pulifi returned with a jar of blue cream and a stern look on her face.

"Now Mr. Potter, I know you weren't about to interfere with the removing of a powerful block, were you?" She asked, sounding eerily similar to Madam Pomfrey.

"Harry," He corrected almost automatically. "And I wasn't going to interfere; I was just going to comfort her…she looks like she's in so much pain…" He whispered, never taking his gaze off of his Aunt that he had come to love in a short period of time. Pulifi's face softened as she followed his gaze to Calla.

"The reason it hurts as much as it does," She started, her voice soft, as she applied the blue cream to the wounds on his back using magic to assist her. "Is because of the strength of the wizard that cast it and the length of time it has been on her." Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously at the fact. Dumbledore was certainly going to have some explaining to do when he got back.

For a moment it seemed, time stopped. The other occupants in the room turned as one, even the slightly twitching Calla, to face a shaking Harry. His eyes were closed and his hands were clenched into tight fists. Just how far had Dumbledore's machinations extended? Had his whole existence been planned out by the old codger? How about the lives of his maternal grandparents? Were they forced into hiding or were they simply killed off because they got in the way? Pulifi eyed the young man nervously, but placed a calming hand on one of his clenched fists. Slowly, his body relaxed and his head slumped forward.

"Perhaps…I should put you in an induced coma, Harry. Seeing the reaction that your Aunt had to the effects of the removal, I'm almost afraid to see what your reaction will be to all of the ones on you." Pulifi spoke quietly as Dzetum finished removing the blocks from Calla and put a sleeping spell on her. Once Dzetum was done, she joined Pulifi beside Harry and placed her hand on his other fist.

"Pulifi is right, Mr. Potter. It would be less painful for you and would cause you less injury."

As he sat there, thinking about what they had said, he nodded. It made sense really, and there was a plus to not being conscious. He wouldn't be able to over think anything. Slowly, he nodded and pulled his hands away from the concerned goblins. Pausing for only a second more, he leaned back into bed and waited.

"I'll do it…" He whispered and that was the last he knew.

**o**O**o**O**o. Broom cupboard, 12 Gimmauld Place .o**O**o**O**o**

"Ouch! Get off my foot, George!" A voice hissed in pain.

"Oi! I'm not George, I'm Fred!" Came the reply as a soft snicker accompanied it.

"You two know that doesn't work on me, you twit. Now shush, I think someone's coming." And true to the person's prediction, footsteps could be heard thumping up the stairs.

For the three people that were currently hiding in the broom closet across the hall from the two youngest Weasleys, it seemed like ages before the owners of the feet that caused the sound to finally reach the top of the stairs.

"I'm telling you Ginny, Hermione's up to something. She's been acting like I'm revolting or something and she's always hanging out with the Twins!" The first person said.

"That little mudblood isn't smart enough to pull one over on us, so shut up Ron before someone hears us!" Ginny snapped at Ron.

In the closet, the twins were having to forcibly restrain and quiet an enraged Hermione. After the sound of the doors closing, the twins poked their heads out of the door to make sure no one was in the hall or on their way up, before dragging Hermione to their room. While they were dragging her, Hermione was fuming. How dare they call her a mudblood and say that she was, of all the horrid things to say, stupid! Growling low in her throat, she kicked out, punched out, and even attempted to bite the hand across her mouth. But it was all in vain, the twins were much too strong for her.

By the time the twins got her to their room and thrown up silencing and multiple locking charms on the door, Fred was in severe pain, seeing as he was the one that had latched onto her. With one arm around her midsection and his opposite hand clamped on her mouth, he had endured biting, kicking, and scratching. Sighing in relief when he saw his twin finish with the charms on the door, he released Hermione only to catch her again as she ran head long to the door.

"Hermione, stop! I know what they said was horrible but if you go out there and openly go against them, then we'd have no way to keep Harry informed." Fred whispered soothingly into her ear as she continued to struggle in his grasp. In truth, Fred had wanted to do nothing more than race out of the cupboard with Hermione and tear his siblings in two for the disgraceful words directed towards the bookworm in his arms. Noticing that her struggling was slowly ebbing, but quickly turning to grief he sank onto the bed pulling her with him.

"It's just that…I had thought that they were truly my friends! The way they acted whenever Malfoy had called me that loathsome name, or the way they stood up for me when Harry couldn't be there to help." She sniffled and buried her face into Fred's chest. Fred looked up to his twin, worry etched clearly onto their normally mischievous faces.

Several tense moments passed while Hermione continued to cry and Fred and George whispering soothing words to her. George had started pacing at some point and kept stopping to help his twin calm the loveable bookworm down, his mind in overdrive. How were they going to continue to act as though they hadn't heard those harmful words? Finally, after what seemed like days, but was only twenty minutes, Hermione calmed down enough to pull away from Fred and look up at him with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry for crying all over you, Fred." Her voice was hoarse from crying and she had tear tracks on her face, but she felt better. Of course she was still hurt, but she had cried it out, leaving her feeling cleansed. Fred shrugged and grinned with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"No need to fret over that, oh-wonderful bookworm. The only thing you need to worry that pretty little head over is how we're going to get our revenge on the Weasel and the Little Bint." Fred's grin grew wider when he saw his twin perk up at the prospect of a prank and the contemplative look from Hermione.

"Now I was thinking…"

**o**O**o**O**o. 1 hour later – Grimmauld Kitchen .o**O**o**O**o**

Fred, George, and Hermione just entered the kitchen which was full of Order members from the just ended meeting. The three had slightly pleased looks on their faces but none of the adults caught it except for Mad-Eye and Snape. Sitting at the table next to each other, they started a conversation about the effects of moonstone and boomslang in a potion, occasionally shooting glances at the door. Snape watched the trio with a raised eyebrow while Moody was trying his hardest not to grin or laugh out, having seen what the trio was waiting for. Hermione looked at her watch and grinned widely before starting to cough to cover it up, Fred patting her on the back asking if she was okay. Just then, the occupants of the room startled from a loud shriek from upstairs, loud enough to set off Mrs. Black and her rantings.

While all of the occupants, minus the trio, Snape, Moody, and Dung, rushed out to see what the problem was, Hermione calmly stood and strode up to Mrs. Black's painting and pulling closed the curtains. When she returned to the kitchen she just blinked at the looks she was receiving from her potions professor and the grizzly old auror. From upstairs the occupants in the kitchen could hear shrieking and laughter…lots of laughter. Several moments later, while the trio were picking at their dinner and continuing their potions discussion, stomping footsteps could be heard coming down the steps.

"Fred! George! You two explain yourselves this instant!" Molly Weasley shrieked as soon as she entered the kitchen dragging a female Ron and a male Ginny into the room behind her, who were followed by a still chuckling Order. Fred and George looked up with innocent expressions, truly innocent expressions.

"Mum?" "What happened?" Fred and George replied, respectively. Meanwhile, Snape struggled not to laugh and Moody had given up and was in the middle of a fit of hysterical laughter. Molly's face reached a new shade of puce as she pointed a stubby finger at the twins.

"You two did this, I know you did! Now reverse it, reverse it now!" Fred and George held their hands up innocently.

"We didn't do anything!"

"We haven't seen Ron or Ginny all day,"

"So there was no way that we could have done that!" Hermione snorted in laughter to herself. The twins were being completely truthful, they had nothing to do with what had happened to Ron and Ginny other than giving her the idea to do it. She was the one that had brewed the potion and put in a box of candies that she had slipped into Ron's room. Ron, hearing Hermione's snort of laughter, whirled around to glare at her which only caused her snort louder and slap a hand over her mouth.

"What are you laughing at 'Mione?!" Ron screeched in a very effeminate voice, causing Hermione to squeak and burying her face in Fred's shoulder; hoping to hide the tears of mirth from the room.

"Oi, Ronniekins! I think you scared her!" Fred crowed as he wrapped an arm around a shaking Hermione.

"I think we should take her up to her room, so she's not scarred for the rest of her life." George piped up taking position on the other side of Hermione, leading them out of the kitchen all the while ignoring Molly's screeching for them to get back and set her babies right. They were so intent on getting back to the twins' room that they didn't notice the two figures following them silently.

When the trio, plus two, reached the room the collapsed on the floor in giggles. Snape raised his eyebrow again, while Moody locked the door and put a silencing charm up. The three were still giggling when they heard Snape clear his throat; which, when they heard, looked up and stopped giggling…for five seconds before falling back into giggles.

"Are you going to tell us why you pulled such a prank on your friends Miss. Granger? Or are you going to continue to giggle like a schoolgirl?" Hermione looked up at the surly professor, tears of mirth streaming down her face and still giggling at random intervals.

"How'd you know it was me, sir?" Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from laughing again at the image of Ron with waist length hair and a C-cup chest and Ginny flat-chested and with a buzz cut. Snape snorted in amusement and drew his wand to conjure a chair before sitting in it primly.

"Considering that you were talking about two ingredients that are frequently used in a Gender Bender Potion or that Misters Weasley were telling the truth when they said that they didn't do it? It fails me to how I could have figured it out." He replied sarcastically. Hermione smirked, one that any Slytherin would envy, and shrugged her shoulders.

"It wasn't a Gender Bender Potion though, sir. Those need the victim's…I mean, individual's DNA to change the gender of the person. I, and yes I'm admitting to doing it, used a completely different potion that won't wear off for two days and using any spells will only further advance the changes on their bodies." Her smirk turned absolutely evil now. "Which I'm sure they're finding out just…about…now!" And sure enough there was a louder shriek from downstairs, sending Mrs. Black into another fit. Hermione, Fred, and George however doubled over laughing again. "I wonder which spell was used…maybe Ginny noticed a little something different between her legs…or maybe Ron's missing his?" She snorted in laughter, causing the two adults in the room to wince when she said something about Ron missing something between his legs.

"Alright, so we know it was you, now tell us why you did it?" Snape asked, trying, and failing, to keep his amusement in check. Hermione stiffened and turned away from the adults in the room while Fred and George shared a look. Minutes passed before she turned back around, a sneer firmly in place, shocking everyone in the room.

"They deserve everything that happens to them in the next two days." She whispered ferociously, her eyes glinting dangerously. "They have been stealing from Harry for years, Molly and Dumbledore included, those two rodents have been reporting Harry's every move to Dumbledore while at school for money, Ginny was planning on slipping Harry a love potion so that he would marry her and if he were to die in the final battle she would gain his entire vault contents, Ron was going to slip me a love potion also so I would be his _perfect little mudblood slut_," She spat out, now pacing the room like a caged animal, while Snape and Moody shared a look, "They dared to call me stupid, let alone a mudblood, Ron has hindered Harry's learning in fear of being showed up by not only a mudblood but a half-blood as well." Hermione stopped suddenly and looked at the two adults in fear, though there was an underlying light of anger still in her eyes. "Oh no…you're going to tell Dumbledore now aren't you? He's going to cast a memory charm on me again….then I won't remember all of this!" She sunk to her knees and started crying, while whispering 'not again, please not again' over and over.

Fred shot a worried look at the adults before pulling the whimpering Hermione to him and rubbing soothing circles on her back. George stood in front of his brother and Hermione, wand in hand and a hard look on his face.

"Look. I don't know what she's talking about when she says that she'll be memory charmed again, but I know that I won't let either of you harm her anymore than my idiot brother and sister have. I know I'm no match, but I think I can hold you off long enough to let her escape." He said harshly, as he tried to block out Hermione's whimpers of 'not again'. Moody just shook his head and raised his hands in a placating gesture, while Snape merely raised an eyebrow. He had to give them credit, they had guts.

"Miss. Granger, Misters Weasley, I assure you that I will not tell Dumbledore. Alastor and I have been suspecting Dumbledore was doing something less than Light acceptable. What you just said proves it, but what I'm curious about, and everyone else in this room I'm sure, is what you meant when you said 'he's going to cast a memory charm on me again'." He looked at her calmly, a hint of concern in his obsidian eyes. Hermione looked up, her face covered in tears and her eyes red and puffy.

"He…Dumbledore, he found out that I was getting suspicious the end of fourth year. I had looked up the rules for the Tri-Wizard after Harry's name had come out, and found that there had been a way for Harry to have not have participated. Then I had been thinking about what had happened so far since our schooling started, the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber, my use of a Time Turner, and Harry and I saving Buckbeak and Sirius. There was no way that a Headmaster of any school would willingly bring something into his school to hide and have traps to keep it safe…yet three eleven year olds were capable of getting passed AND save the stone." She shook her head against Fred's chest and gripped his shirt tighter. "Dumbledore had found out that I was doubting him, through Legilimency I suppose, and called me to his office the day before the end of term. I didn't remember going there, I think he forgot to finish the memory, so I cast a diagnostic spell on myself…to my shock I had a powerful memory charm placed on me." She shuddered. "When I told Ron about it, he told me I was imagining things and sent me to see Dumbledore again…and he charmed me again, this time he erased something important…the fact that I was to help McGonagall with the first years on the train. She sent me a letter over the summer stating how disappointed she was in me that I forgot to help her…imagine my surprise when I read that." She laughed harshly, causing the occupants to wince at the sound. When she didn't continue, Snape leaned forward trying to catch her eye.

"Miss. Granger, how did you find out that time?" A light blush covered her cheeks as she looked away quickly.

"I figured something was wrong so I brewed the potion that shows any charms that had been placed on me over the past year and the spell or potion to use to remove them." She scowled at the floor, remembering something. "The results were horrid. I was never so disgusted in my entire life; a love spell, several loyalty charms, an attitude charm, three memory charms and a power block. I, of course, brewed the potions that I could while out of school and when I got on the train I used the spells." She snorted derisively before continuing. "Harry was the only one to notice my change in behavior. He said I looked better, like I wasn't being held down as much." Shaking her head she met the eyes of the feared potions master and willingly let him enter her mind.

Snape spent several moments in Hermione's thoughts before leaning back abruptly, cutting the connection off in the process. He sat there with a disgusted look on his face as the blush on Hermione's cheeks brightened. The old codger had allowed that Weasley do…**that**…to the Granger girl?

"He found out…and thought he would teach me a lesson." Hermione's voice was soft as she explained to the other occupants. "I was under an Imperio, after being mentally subdued of course," She threw in with a sneer, "He had Ron…" She choked and refused to meet the eyes watching her. Snape, showing compassion for a student not in Slytherin stood and stalked to the door, ready to kill the old codger and the weasel. "Professor, don't…please…" She looked up, grief etched in every line of her face. He paused with one hand on the door knob and his wand in the other, ready to disarm the spells on the door.

"Why, Miss. Granger, would you want me to stop? No one should have to endure what you did…to be treated like that…it's despicable! I doubt even the Dark Lord would do such a thing to someone as intelligent as you." Snape spat out, he knew for a fact that the Dark Lord wasn't what he seemed, but that wasn't the point. "Give me one reason that I shouldn't go out there and kill them both."

Hermione sat there blinking at her potion's professor. What could she tell him? Was there truly a reason for him not to kill the old codger and the weasel? Chewing her bottom lip, she focused her attention on the ground once more while the occupants finally figured out what had happened. The old codger had put her under the imperious and made her willingly be raped by the weasel.

"They're needed in the war, Professor. I much as I hate to admit it, Dumbledore is needed and so is everyone else." She spoke softly, still focused on the ground. As what she said sank in, Snape dropped his hand from the door and slouched against it.

"You're right…"

**o**O**o**O**o. Hospital, Goblin Underground .o**O**o**O**o**

Calla sat on her bed, her legs dangling over the edge as she watched her nephew as he twitched in his healing coma. She had woken up an hour ago feeling as if a ton of weight had been lifted off of her. She felt lighter and more care free now that the block had been removed. Standing from the bed, Calla made her way to the bathroom so she could get a better look at herself now that the glamour had been taken off. When she reached the full length mirror in the bathroom, she gasped in shock. She had her mother and sister's hair, the brilliant red that shone like rubies in the sun; she had her father's eyes, the pale jade with a few stripes of dark green and blue; she was taller, approximately five foot eight now; and she had filled out, gaining a shapelier figure instead of her previous ramrod straight. Lifting a slender hand, Calla ran it through her newly acquired red hair, remembering the brief dreams from her childhood where she had red hair and light green eyes. Calla shrugged and walked back to Harry's bed, smoothing the hair from his face when she reached him. He was muttering something in his sleep that she could quite understand; curious as ever, she bent over to listen to him but what he was mumbling didn't make sense, at least not to her. Pulifi entered the room carrying a tray with a plate of food and several vials of potions, as she set it down her slightly more attuned hearing picked up Harry's mutters.

"Can't believe…Cedric alive? Why…did he….break me?"

The goblin's eyes widened comically after she heard what Harry was saying. If she understood correctly, Harry had been misled about the Diggory boy being alive…along with everyone else that the boy had been in contact with. Gesturing to the tray, Pulifi made a motion of drinking and eating then fled. She had a trip to make, whether her superiors approved or not…she was going to St. Mungos to fetch Cedric Diggory.

Calla blinked several times before looking at the tray laden with food and potions, sighing, she sat on her bed and ate the food going over what her and Harry had been through the past day.

_/flashback/_

_Petunia helped Harry out to the garage and into the car that she had parked there yesterday. Once he was in the passenger seat safely, she pulled out the invisibility cloak that she had salvaged from Harry's room and tossed it over his shivering form._

"_I'm taking you to a clinic first, Harry. Just to get some of it taken care of in case we encounter problems." She had said sternly, expecting some kind of rejection from Harry, but none came. He was in too much pain to really care._

_After a thirty minute drive, Petunia pulled her car to a stop in front of a small emergency clinic. Chewing her lip in thought, she seemed to come to a decision and pulled the cloak off of Harry and dashed to the entrance, only to come back out not more than a minute later with an orderly and a wheel chair._

"_Jesus, ma'am! If I'd have known that he was banged up this bad, then I would have brought the gurney out!" The orderly exclaimed as he helped a battered Harry out of the sedan. Harry chuckled weakly, shaking his head sadly._

"_I'm fine, just bruised up. My Aunt took care of most of the damage before we got here." Harry said softly before groaning as he sat in the wheelchair. "Bet Snape would love to see this…"_

_The orderly ignored Harry and wheeled him into the clinic briskly, paging Dr. Genre to the front desk ASAP. When the doctor, a pretty blonde lady with her hair in a loose bun, came out she gasped in shock and jumped to action. Petunia had a hard time telling what had happened after that, having never seen someone act so quickly yet efficiently. Almost another half hour later, the doctor called Petunia over to look at Harry's back and gasped in shock, then outrage. There carved on Harry's back were the words 'worthless freak'. She refused to tell Harry what was on his back, not wanting to upset him. After reassuring the doctor that she would take care of him, they duo left the clinic. Harry went to the car and started pulling out their bags while Petunia called for a cab. They walked to a little shop that was a block away from the clinic to buy a black fedora and black sunglasses with emerald green lenses for Harry and a sun hat and gray sunglasses for Petunia. When they left the shop, the taxi was waiting for them._

_Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron was an anxious experience for Harry and Petunia; they had to get past Tom, hoping that he wouldn't inform Dumbledore about their passing through. But it was all for naught, because Tom just nodded to the passing duo and went back to cleaning the bar top. After that, Petunia and Harry had made their way to the bank quickly, knowing that as soon as they were in the bank no harm would come to them._

_/end flashback/ _

Calla sighed and looked over at her nephew once more as she downed the potions on the tray. "I'm so sorry Harry, I hope you could find it in your heart to forgive a woman for treating her own blood with such hate. Even if I had that horrid charm on me, that's no excuse, I should have tried to break it." She cried, burying her face in her hands.

"S'alright, An' Cal. I…f'give you…" Harry mumbled with his eyes still closed, seemingly still stuck in dreamland.

Calla just shook her head and looked at him in amazement. Oh yes, Albus Dumbledore was certainly going to pay for what he did to her family.

**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**

**Sorry for the delay. I was having some computer issues. -shrugs- All better now though.**

**Alright, the poll!**

**Who should Harry be paired with? (current standings)**

**Luna – 7 votes****  
Hermione – 5 votes  
Hermione & Fleur – 4 votes  
Fleur – 4 votes  
Hermione, Luna, Fleur – 3 votes  
Tonks – 3 votes  
Tonks,Hermione, & Luna – 2 votes  
Tonks & Luna – 1 vote  
Tonks, Fleur, Gabrielle, & Luna – 1 vote  
Original – 1 vote  
Susan Bones – 1 vote  
Daphne Greengrass – 1 vote  
****No Pairing – 1 vote**

**Don't forget to place your vote! And if I can't pick, I'll choose the top two, which is currently Luna & Hermione. Don't like it? Vote! xD**

**Alright. Peace.**

**Topsey**


	5. Chapter 04:: A happy medley

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Chapter 04 – A lonely badger, rosebushes, truths from a lily, and a magical birthday…oh boy.**

Cedric was having a horrible day, not that it was any surprise to him actually. He had been forced to stay in the private room at St. Mungos since the incident at the Tri-Wizard Tournament and had hated everyday since. Dumbledore had forced him here, saying that the only people that knew that he was alive and well were only important people, i.e. members of his little Order. Sighing out of aggravation, he flung himself backwards on the bed in the small room. He had had one visitor other than Dumbledore and his henchmen, and he hadn't even known who they were. They had come in a deep red cloak with the hood pulled up to shade their face and had on a voice concealer charm. They had given him one thing he had wanted since he had woken up in the white room; the truth about what had happened that night.

The person had told him that it was them that had been the one to cast the so-called killing curse, and before he could interrupt asking how he was still alive if it was a killing curse, the figure had cut him off by explaining.

_/flashback/_

"_I am a Mage, a magical race that specializes in battle magics and other things. I had captured and stunned the rat, Wormtail, and took his place in the graveyard." The figured sighed sadly. "I knew that I was incapable of stopping Tom Riddle from performing the ritual, so I had to let him…come back." It shook its head, hoping to shake the thoughts from its head. "But, that does not matter. When he told me to 'kill the spare', I had to think quick. So, instead of actually killing you, I sent a Stunner, Stasis, Illusion, and Spell-Color Changer spell bundle at you while saying the Kedavra Curse. The Stunner so no harm would befall you, the stasis to stop blood flow and give a better appearance of your death, the illusion was to make it look like the Kedavra worked, and the spell-color changer to turn the spell bundle killing curse green." The Mage bowed their head mumbling something under their breath. "Forgive me, Mr. Diggory. I had not intended for you to be locked up in this room. But I am not in the favor of Mr. Dumbledore." The Mage stood to leave and made their way to the door, only to pause and look back once more. "I do hope that Mr. Dumbledore's machinations do not hurt you more than they have already, Mr. Diggory. If you are in need of my assistance, simply call out for NB and I shall aide you in any way possible." With that, the Mage left, leaving a confused Cedric behind._

_/end flashback/_

"Ugh, why does everything have to be so bloody confusing?" Cedric groaned as he covered his face with his hands, hoping to block out the white of the room.

"That, Mr. Diggory, is a very good question indeed." A feminine voice said from the foot of his bed. Cedric snapped up from his laying position to get a look at the person attached to the voice and was shocked to see a female Goblin decked out in Healer robes. Smiling sadly, the Goblin waved her hand several times causing Cedric's things to pack. "I am Junior Healer Pulifi and I do believe you have been in this prison for too long." Cedric blinked owlishly at the Goblin before jumping off the bed with a grin on his face.

"Yes! I'm getting out of here! Woo!" He jumped around for a bit, and doing a dance of some sort. When he stopped he looked at the Goblin a bit sheepishly before bending low and offering his hand. "I am eternally grateful to you, madam. May I inquire as to where we will be going?" He asked, offering a charming smile to the now blushing Goblin.

"That, Mr. Diggory, shall be a surprise that you shall see for yourself." Grasping his hand, the Goblin waved her hand once over his belongings making them disappear, then thinking about the hospital room she wanted to go to, the duo disappeared with a 'pop'.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Hospital Room # 3 .o**O**o**O**o**

Calla was chewing her nails nervously. After eating last night and taking those potions, she had fallen into a peaceful sleep. When she awoke several hours later, it was closing in on noon, she had noticed something wrong in the room. Looking over to Harry, she noticed him thrashing about on the bed in obvious pain, so doing the only thing she could think of she screamed for Healer Dzetum. Only a minute later, the disheveled Goblin rushed in and immediately went to Harry's bed. Dzetum placed her hand on the boy's forehead and frowned deeply, the boy was struggling with something, that was obvious, but what caused her great concern was that he was struggling with himself.

When Dzetum removed the blocks the previous day, she had been able to remove all but the glamour and attitude charms, seeing as they were tied to something within Harry himself. What Dzetum guessed, is that Harry was battling himself to let his true personality to show thru. Sighing, Dzetum pulled her hand away and waved it over him, hoping to help his internal struggle. As she was finishing with her spell work, there was a soft 'pop' behind her, followed by a squeak of surprise and two gasps of shock and fear.

"Is that…Harry?" A male voice asked. Concentrating on her patient she nodded stiffly, wiggling her fingers slightly. This was a strong Attitude charm, she thought to herself.

"Pulifi, assist me please. The charm is too strong and he is losing the battle in breaking it." Her voice was stern and held a bit of worry in it. She had grown to care for the human child before her in the very short amount of time that he had been there. Pulifi had joined her now and was weaving the same spellwork that she was doing, their subconscious barely picking up the hushed conversation going on behind them. Finally, with a bone chilling shudder, the charm broke and Harry relaxed back onto the bed. Dzetum sagged briefly before bracing herself on the bed. "Remind me to injure Albus Dumbledore, Pulifi. To do such a thing to a child…" She shook her head in disgust before backing away from the bed and spotting the newest occupant. Turning to Pulifi, she raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to explain. Pulifi looked mildly embarrassed but defiant all the same.

"Madam Healer Dzetum, the Headmaster has locked this youngling up in a white prison cell since his supposed death. This, Madam, is Cedric Diggory. The magical community in its entirety was left to believe his death at the Tri-Wizard because of one Albus Dumbledore. He found out that Mr. Diggory was not dead but chose not to tell anyone, including the grieving Harry and Mr. Diggory's family." Pulifi stated before her face blushed in anger. "A whole year he has been locked in there, only being fed and watered. Nothing more, nothing less. I had to release him and figured he'd want to speak with young Harry once he awakens, ma'am."

Dzetum stared at Pulifi in shock. If what she said was true… "How dare he! That greedy old goat!" Dzetum growled, hands twitching as if she wanted to strangle something.

"Excuse me Madam. But…can you tell me what's wrong with Harry?" Cedric sounded worried as he gazed upon the younger boy. Dzetum took a moment but nodded.

"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. Harry and his Aunt turned up here…"

**o**O**o**O**o. Number Four, Privet Drive – Rosebush .o**O**o**O**o**

"Tonks, shh! The muggles will hear!" Remus Lupin whispered fiercely as Tonks yelped in pain as she poked herself with a thorn from the rosebush they were hiding in.

"I can't help it Remus! Who hides in a rosebush anyhow?" Tonks grumbled back, rubbing her bleeding arm. Remus held his hand up and sniffed, long and deep. Tonks fidgeted, twisting the hem of her sleeve. "Remus, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if Dumbledore catches us?" Remus just shook his head, trying to discern the scents he was smelling.

"Don't worry about it Tonks." He turned suddenly, grinning widely with his amber eyes flashing dangerously. "Besides, he doesn't stand a chance. Little does he know that I've embraced Moony and have stopped taking the Wolfsbane." He chuckled as Tonks' eyes widened and her face paled. "Don't worry, Moony won't attack you." Remus pulled out his wand and gestured to the door.

Getting the signal, Tonks crept to the door and opened it with an Alohamora before she slunk into the darkened hallway with Remus right behind her. After they entered, they both knew that the house was empty. Climbing the stairs quickly, they entered Harry's room to find his things gone and blood scattered around the room.

"This isn't looking too good." Tonks whispered before grabbing Remus' elbow and apparating out of Number Four Privet Drive.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

Harry groaned as he rolled over in the comfortable hospital bed, he felt stiff, drained, hot, and like he was moving thru molasses. He was glad that he had been put in a healing coma before Healer Dzetum had started removing the first of his blocks, because if he felt this way now he loathed to think what he felt when she was removing them. Sighing, he buried his head deeper into the pillow, trying with all his might to ignore the chuckling from somewhere near him. Harry turned his attention away from the distracting noise and thought about what had happened about a minute ago, in reality it was four hours. He had been asleep, in a black void and out of nowhere a different Harry appeared in front of him. They had fought with each other, hoping to gain dominance. He knew he was losing but when he was suddenly feeling stronger than the other, he was able to dispose of it and win the battle. He was so confused; why did he fight himself? Coming back to the present, he jumped a little when he felt someone place a cool rag on the back of his neck.

"Easy there, Harry." A familiar voice said, causing Harry's eyes to snap open and focus on the slightly blurry form of Cedric Diggory.

"Cedric?" Oh how he hated himself for his voice cracking. "They were right…you are alive." A small smile graced his lips before his face twisted in pain again.

"Yeah, I'm alive and I'll explain how once you're better." Cedric stated calmly as he removed the cloth from Harry's neck and cast a cooling charm on it before placing it on Harry's forehead. "Are you alright? Do you need me to get the Healer?" Harry nodded stiffly, he felt as though he was being run over by a truck…slowly and multiple times.

Cedric disappeared leaving Harry to his thoughts. So his parents weren't pulling his leg when they said that Cedric was alive; boy, he couldn't wait to hear how someone else survived the Killing Curse. Harry reached up and pulled the now warm cloth off of his forehead and buried his face in his pillow. The light was killing him, the dark hurt; what the hell was wrong with him?

"It's the day before your birthday, Mr. Potter. If I'm correct, you'll be turning sixteen, yes?" Harry just nodded, his face still buried in the pillow. "Good. What you didn't know, I'm assuming, is that technically wizards and witches come into their full powers and inheritance on their sixteenth, not their seventeenth." Healer Dzetum said as she and Cedric entered the room again. She performed a quick scan over him and grunted in disapproval. "You are going thru this much different than any other humans that I have seen. Most just feel sluggish, not feverish. Now, I can't do much to help you; if you have too many pain potions or fever reducers in your system when you come into your inheritance, it'll block your full power and it sometimes even kills." She sighed and placed the now permanently cooled cloth on the back of his neck again, then waving her hand she vanished his pajama top, ignoring the enraged gasp from Cedric about the marks on Harry's back, and placed a newly conjured permanently chilled towel on his back. "That's the best we can do for now." With that, she did a quick check on Calla, who was reading a journal from Lily, then left.

"Why can't anything I do be normal?" Harry grunted, not really expecting an answer.

"Because you're Harry." Came the duel reply from Cedric and Calla, causing both of them to start laughing and Harry to grumble.

"Oh shut it, you're giving me a migraine." He groaned, pushing his face further into the pillows. "Too bad I can't take muggle aspirin." Harry mumbled before falling into the sweet blackness.

Cedric blinked several times before chuckling and re-took his place in the reclining chair by Harry's bed. Calla just shook her head in amusement before turning back to the journal she had been reading.

_August 30, 1980_

_Well, tomorrow Harry will be a month old and James and I could never be happier. Harry is such a good baby, hardly fusses and knows when James or I need cheering up. Just today, James had come home from work upset about something and Harry waved his little hands around trying to get his attention. Then, surprising both of us, Harry squealed out a loud 'Da!'. I thought James' face was going to split in two. But what had really surprised me though was that as soon as James picked Harry up, his little face scrunched up in concentration, looked at me and said Ma! He said his first words at only a month old!_

_I better go before the little hellion picks up any words from his father._

_Lily_

Calla smiled and giggled. Harry had been a smart child until his Uncle had a talk with him about being smarter than Dudley. She closed her eyes briefly, a look of regret and anger on her face, not noticing the curious look from Cedric, before flipping through the journal a couple of entries.

_October 24, 1981_

_Alright, I haven't been able to write in this for a while. But there's a very good reason. Harry started showing magical abilities on his birthday, even with the Baby Blocker on. Padfoot had been trying to get Harry to play in the cake, to which Harry exclaimed rather loudly 'No Pa'foo! You pay!' Which to my understanding was 'no Padfoot, you play', then Harry scrunched his little face up and the next thing we know the whole cake is on Sirius' head and he was moaning about his beautiful hair. But that wasn't all. Later, after most of the guest had left, meaning the Order, there was only Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, and Minerva, Harry was playing on the floor in front of Minerva with a dinosaur and it broke. But before anyone could pull out their wand to repair it, Harry pulled the pieces in his hand and simply said 'fix', and it did! Just like that! We were so amazed and Minerva started tearing up._

_Harry must have noticed and crawled to Minnie, put his hand on her knee to pull himself up, reached up and touched her cheek before he scrunched his face up again and a hanky was in his little hand, trying to wipe off Minnie's tears. It was so sweet! My baby's going to be a charmer when he grows up, I know it!_

_Well, anyhow. The point in my writing today, is that I fear something terrible is going to happen. I know we have a traitor, and it's not Remus, as much as James thinks it is. I think it's Peter, since he is the one Sirius wanted us to use for Secret Keeper. I admit, it was a good plan, but maybe if Peter wasn't such a coward. Anyhow, I thought that I would write in here, hoping that if something were to happen to us…I just wanted Harry to have something to remember me from if he makes it and we don't. A whole journal of my ramblings from my first year to now. I just hope that he never has to read about my experiences and can hear them from myself. But, no matter. James and I have written a will and have left Harry two letters and in the main vault, we have portraits that I charmed to act as if we were there._

_I must go now, Harry has been fussy this week. I think he knows something is going to happen. But Dumbledore assures me that all is well and will not allow us to move._

_Hopefully, this will not be the last I write, but if it is. I, Lilly Jasmine Evans-Potter, swear on my magic that Dumbledore is not to be trusted and that Tom Marvolo Riddle is not really Voldemort. He is locked away under a Fidelius in an unknown location and Lord Voldemort is really Aberforth Dumbledore under disguise._

_I believe that is why Dumbledore wants us to stay put. We're not going to make it, I fear…_

_Whomever happens upon this journal, please tell my baby that I love him and that he should activate the portraits. I have a…project that I have been working on that will aide him._

_Lily_

Calla blinked several times. Her sister had known something was going to happen before it did, and she knew Dumbledore was behind it. Growling, she caught the attention of Cedric, Pulifi (who had entered sometime while Calla was reading), and Dzetum (who had come back with Pulifi).

"Is there a problem, Ms. Evans?" Healer Dzetum questioned as she performed several diagnosis spells on Harry's unconscious form. Calla just shook her head in disgust looking at the journal.

"She knew she was going to die…and that Dumbledore was up to something, and she just sat there! Waiting for death to come and take her!" Calla ground out, tears now streaming down her face. "If she would have left, Harry would have been able to have a happy life. He wouldn't have be beat everyday for being different, or smart, or nice. He could have had a real family!" She sobbed as she tossed the journal towards Cedric and buried her face in her hands. Cedric looked confused at the journal and opened it to the last entry, the one that Calla had just finished reading. When he finished reading, his face was pale as a ghost and he passed it silently to the two impatient Goblins. Cedric's attention was now on Harry and the floor, alternating as his thoughts ran rampant after what was just brought to his attention.

"Holy Snagrok!" Pulifi exclaimed, having finished the journal entry. Dzetum didn't look like she was fairing too well either.

"What's all the commotion about?" Harry mumbled from his place on the bed, face still buried in the pillows to block out the light. "What about my mum?" He felt so weak, but he wanted to know what was going on. Healer Dzetum barely managed to control herself and was able to ground out a reply.

"Your mother wrote an entry in her journal seven days before the attack on your home that resulted in them losing their lives. She wrote that she had a feeling something was going to happen and that you had been acting fussy, so she assumed you felt it as well. The last entry, she swore an oath on her magic that Dumbledore is not to be trusted and that Tom Riddle is under a Fidelius somewhere and that the Voldemort that we all know is Aberforth Dumbledore." Dzetum scowled before handing the journal back to Calla. "It's nine p.m. now, I suggest you all get some rest before Mr. Potter undergoes his inheritance change." She nodded curtly before stalking out of the room, she needed to see the director and inform him of this new information. Pulifi left the room and the other occupants of the room fell asleep one by one; Harry was first, still working with the pain from the change that was about to occur, Calla was next, then finally Cedric, with his mind still on the information that he had just learned.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Pulifi's Room .o**O**o**O**o**

Pulifi entered her room, tossing her Healer robes across a couch that sat in front of a warm fireplace before moving towards the owl room. The owl room was a room underground that had a tunnel that connected the room to the above surfaces. Pulifi sighed as she looked around the room, no owls, what a shame really. She shrugged her small shoulders and turned to leave, but upon hearing a screeched from a bird of prey, she turned to see a black hawk and young Potter's snowy white owl sitting and watching her. Raising a curious brow, she gestured for the birds to come to her, but the bird of prey just stayed put, the owl staying by its side.

"Well, if you're not here for me…then who?" Pulifi muttered, not really expecting an answer.

'_I am here to deliver a package to young Mr. Potter, Madam Pulifi. Can you show me and his owl the way?_' The hawk spoke in her head with a deep timber. Pulifi just looked at the hawk in shock before nodding.

"I can, but I'm afraid Mr. Potter won't be able to answer the letter or look at his package. He's about to go thru his inheritance and is in severe pain." She spoke softly and gestured for the bird to follow. "I don't believe that I have caught your name, dear sir?" The bird just tilted his head to the side and landed on her shoulder, mindful of the package in the bag that was slung across him, Hedwig chose to glide behind them.

'_My name? I do not have one. I am merely a post Hawk. We have no need for names._' He stated almost bitterly. Before Pulifi could question him though, they arrived at Harry's room.

"Here we are, sir and Miss. Hedwig. You are more then welcome to make yourselves comfortable until Harry is capable of receiving your burden if you do not wish to part with it." The bird nodded as he flew off of Pulifi's shoulder and landed on the bars at the top of Harry's bed, Hedwig having perched there. "The inheritance shall be in a couple of hours, you may wish to rest before then." Pulifi exited the room and went back towards hers, knowing that she wouldn't rest but would need an Energy Elixer.

**o**O**o**O**o. Grimmauld Place – Order Meeting .o**O**o**O**o**

"Calm down everyone. There is nothing we can do about the attack now." Albus Dumbledore stated quietly, but everyone heard him and instantly quieted. Not more than an hour ago, there was an attack on several muggleborn's home resulting in several deaths, mostly the children's parents though. "Now, Kingsley, I believe you and Dung were on guard duty today at Privet Drive?" Receiving a nod from the bald auror, he gestured for the man to speak.

"The Uncle and cousin left on a sort of hunting trip a couple of days ago, I haven't seen much of Harry, but the Aunt has been making random trips. Today she left sometime before noon and has yet to return, no sign of Harry either." He rumbled before sitting back in his chair, waiting for the people to put two and two together. Albus sat there in slight disbelief, how dare that boy escape his clutches!

"Get a group together and search for them, Harry is in grave danger." Snape and Mad-Eye sent a look to each other, wondering what on earth the boy had gotten into now.

**o**O**o**O**o. Grimmauld Place – Twins' Bedroom .o**O**o**O**o**

Hermione, Fred, and George were sitting on the bed cross legged staring at each other, lost in their thoughts when Hermione jumped slightly. Her eyes widened and she reached into her pants pocket to pull out a small rectangle of metal that was flashing blue and green.

"Snape's got something for us." She said as she clicked the rectangle open, a device that she and the twins had come up with for communication fashioned after a muggle cell phone. As she read the tiny scrawl in the window, her face fell. "Harry and his Aunt have disappeared from the house, Dumbledore's sending out a search team." She spoke in a soft whisper. "I'm not sure whether to be happy or worried." Fred straightened up slightly and had a sad smile on his face.

"How about both? Happy that he's out of the house and off of Dumbledore's radar but worried for his wellbeing." Hermione nodded slowly, hoping that nothing horrible would happen to the boy she loved like a brother.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

Harry rolled over onto his back, his head feeling as if it were about to explode, not noticing that the clock had just finished chiming midnight. Calla, Cedric, Dzetum, and Pulifi stood by the door, looking on in concern. They knew that they couldn't interfere in fear of causing Harry or themselves damage. Harry groaned again, breaking out into a sweat as he felt like his body was being stretched on one of those medieval torture devices.

'_Easy young Potter, do not fight it. Just relax and it will be over soon._' A deep voice whispered in his head, sounding caring. Harry tried to relax but the pain was too much, he let out a small whimper. '_You must relax, young master, or your magic will destroy you. Accept it and you shall fall unconscious._' The voice whispered again as a light brush of something fluttered over his forehead, calming him enough to relax. The four at the door watched in awe as the delivery hawk soothed Harry enough so he could relax into the maturation and fall into unconsciousness.

"I don't remember being in that much pain for my maturation." Cedric murmured, watching Harry with concerned eyes.

"Not to mean any offence, but Mr. Potter is a significantly more powerful wizard than you are Mr. Diggory. My superiors have informed me of whom he is an heir to." Healer Dzetum replied in an equally soft voice, her eyes just as concerned as the others around her.

"Madam!" Pulifi gasped in shock as Harry started glowing with a soft light, arching his back off the bed in obvious pain even though he had fallen unconscious. When Healer Dzetum didn't move, Pulifi made to rush in and assist the young man on the bed but was held back by a strong pair of hands.

"Junior Healer Pulifi! Do not interfere! You know what happens to wizards when their magical maturation is disrupted!" Dzetum snapped, blocking the way into the now brightly lit room with her body. "I know you are all concerned but if this is disrupted then we all may as well bid farewell to our lives. Mr. Potter's magic will not kill him, he is only in pain because of what he and his magic are doing in his subconscious!" Cedric and Pulifi nodded, having already known that, while Calla watched her nephew with teary eyes.

**o**O**o**O**o. Harry's Conscious .o**O**o**O**o**

'_What the heck?_' Harry thought as he landed, quite painfully he would say, in a darkened, void-like space.

"Relax young Potter, you are inside your mind, perfectly safe if I do say so myself." A calm voice soothed behind Harry, though it did little to ease the fear and pain Harry was feeling at the moment. Why should he trust this stranger? It could be a clever ploy from Voldemort. "Voldemort isn't as powerful as you thought, young one. Besides, I am not a stranger, in fact…I'm a little hurt by your lack of acknowledgment!" Harry whirled around, trying to catch a glimpse of the person.

"How the heck am I supposed to acknowledge you if I can't bloody well see you!?" He asked frustrated, still turning in a circle, though it was slower and more deliberate. Though, try as he might, the only thing he could see was empty blackness. The voice sighed heavily as if he were disappointedly amused and stepped from the shadows. The stranger was certainly that; an average man in every way, pale but slightly sunkissed skin, unruly black hair just like his own, bright sapphire colored eyes, but what made this man strange are the tattoos that covered his body.

"Before you ask, young Potter, my name is Edgar Meztli and you are my heir by my choosing." Harry's mouth dropped open, was it possible for magical inheritance to be passed on by choice? "Not generally, but before I was killed I had decided to choose my heirs based on my visions and gut instinct. Some have used my magic wrongly but others have used it for good. I believe one of your relatives used it to help build your current school."

"Gryffindor?" Harry murmured thoughtfully as he 'sat' on the 'ground'. Edgar merely nodded his head. "That explains how I was capable of using the sword in second year." Edgar chuckled and waved a hand for Harry to follow him.

"Yes, that would explain that. Come, we need to get this process over with so you can return to your concerned friends." Harry looked at him confused. What process? Like a ritual? "No, no nothing like that. You need to concentrate on your core," He waved a carefree hand towards a brightly glowing ball of white with a small speck of black, "and the pathways," He waved his hand again towards the brightly colored 'fingers' that twisted off from the core, "so you can use all of your magic freely." Harry's face fell slightly, what if he messed this up? Would that mean he wouldn't be able to use his magic? "Now don't look so down, Harry, this process is actually very simple. Besides, I'm here to guide you. Now, just gaze at your core and focus on strengthening all of the pathways, allowing them to expand and grow to their fullest potential, allowing them to straighten." Edgar murmured once Harry fell into a trace-like state whilst gazing at his core. Before his eyes, Harry's core flashed briefly, lashing out at the remnants of the Quixtor block around it, before the pathways visibly started growing and straightening. He swore at least one pathway was larger that Harry's half-giant friend's waist! "Good Harry, keep concentrating and let me know when you can't get them to grow any bigger." A good five minutes passed and the pathways were now twinkling brightly, having grown, expanded, and straightened to their fullest potential.

"I'm done, now what?" Harry asked curiously, still gazing at his core, or more specifically the black spot on his core. Edgar, having followed Harry's gaze to the core, sighed lightly.

"That spot would be the taint left from the rebounded curse from Voldemort. It used to be much bigger before you started your maturation. See, everyone starts out life with the same color core, then as our life goes on it changes and reacts to the magic we use and the magic cast upon us. You used to have a decent sized white area, almost a matching sized black area, and several spots of red and sickly green. Now, my only guess is that the red is from all of the memory charms that were placed upon you and that the green was from everything else Dumbledore had placed on you." Harry made a face of disgust, secretly pleased to note that there were hardly any traces left of red or green, and the black was a softball amongst all the white.

"So I'm done then?" He asked softly, finally turning his gaze from his core. Edgar nodded slightly, his face lighting up with a smile.

"Yes, you'll be going into a short coma while your body readjusts to its new power, so I'll just leave all of the history, and other tidbits of information to you then. Though, if you ever have a question, I'm sure I'll be around for you to ask. Goodbye Harry." Edgar called cheerfully, waving like a madman before Harry blacked out.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground - Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

"Oh look!" Calla gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in awe. "Those markings are beautiful!" Cedric, Pulifi, and Dzetum were all speechless as they watched beautiful deep violet tattoos with a silvery white outline raise on Harry's exposed skin. Just like his ancestor he held the family rune, a crescent moon with a sun attached at the top point, on his forehead. From the rune, the lines twisted and turned forming an elegant mask that resembled phoenix wings around his eyes, from there the lines continued twisting and turning down his neck along with several dots to accompany the design. The pattern continued across his shoulders splitting off into three lines on each shoulder; one line from each side twisted and turned its way across his chest, meeting in a diamond at the hollow of his throat. The second line from each twisted and turned in the original pattern down his arms, forming the intricate pattern of a phoenix in flight on the inside of his arms that could only be recognized once the two arms were placed together. The third line from his shoulders twisted to his back forming a tribal looking tattoo of a phoenix in flight with its head at the base of his neck before criss-crossing down his spine then twisting to form another small tribal looking tattoo in the shape of a primal looking dragon in the center of flames. From the sides of the flames, the lines twisted to the outside of his hips before splitting in two again. One line twined around his waist while the other twisted down his legs and ending on his feet. On his right palm a sun Rune formed, on his left palm a crescent moon formed, and on the back of his neck, a lightning bolt rune formed, all three glowing with inner light.

"Merlin…" Cedric breathed, in awe of the markings that now covered a large portion of the scars on Harry's back.

"The Meztli heir…" Dzetum and Pulifi looked at each other, having a silent conversation with each other before Pulifi nodded and walked away, in search of her superior. There was a Northern Lights pup that needed its owner.

"Is he alright now?" Calla asked tentatively, now watching her nephew rest peacefully. Dzetum nodded and guided the distraught Aunt to her bed.

"Yes, Ms. Evans. Harry is just in a recovering coma. He'll be around later, maybe tomorrow depending on his ability to heal." Dzetum soothed, getting Calla settled in bed. "You two will need to get supplies but I fear Dumbledore might come looking soon." She fidgeted before pulling out a bundle of books. "Those are mail-order catalogues and you can order everything you'll need except for your wands, I'm afraid you'll have to go to Olivander for those." Calla nodded looking up to Cedric with hopeful eyes.

"I'd be glad to assist you, ma'am, but I suggest we all retire for the night. It is after one in the morning after all." He smiled charmingly before settling down into the bed on the other side of Harry.

"Thank you Mr. Diggory and you as well Healer Dzetum. I'll get started on ordering later after we all get some sleep. Night everyone." Calla called softly, setting the bundle on the night stand before scotching under her covers and falling into a peaceful sleep.

**o**O**o**O**o. Grimmauld's Place – Library .o**O**o**O**o**

"Calm down 'Mione, I'm sure he's fine." Fred soothed the pacing Hermione as he and George flipped through a book at the table. Hermione paused in her pacing for a second before starting up again, none of the three noticing the dark figure in the doorway.

"I know Fred, I can tell he's not in a life threatening situation, it's just…he's in pain." She whispered, stopping so she could gaze out of the smoggy window. "I can feel it in my gut." The person in the doorway closed, locked, and placed a silencing charm on the door before clearing his throat.

"My bets would be on him going through his magical maturation." Hermione spun around wand in hand as Fred and George jumped from their chairs, wand in hand as well.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione gasped before lowering her wand slightly. "What's Harry's favorite brand of Lemon Drops?" She asked suspiciously as Fred and George shot her an amused look. Remus chuckled and held his hands up in a placating manner.

"None. He loathes Lemon Drops especially after finding out that Dumbledore laces his supply with truth serum, calming draughts, and memory modifiers." Hermione nodded happily before placing her wand back into the holster on her arm then bouncing over to Remus to pull him into a tight hug.

"Good to see you Moony." She chirped happily before pulling back. Fred and George sat down, both going back over the book they had been flipping through. "So what brings you up here?" Remus laughed and gestured towards the couch near the twins.

"Young Ronnette and Gino, actually." At the confused expressions he elaborated, chuckling the whole time. "Ron and Ginny's new names until their potions wear off. They're adamant that it was the twins…I on the other hand must applaud you, Hermione. James and Sirius would have loved to have collaborated with you on pranks when they were back in school…and of course, you would have had to have been their age." Apparently, after not learning from the previous attempts, Molly had attempted every spell she knew to rid her 'precious babies' of the change, but having only succeeded in furthering the changes so that Ron was now firmly a female and Ginny was now male. Not to mention that they were garnering a few looks from members of the Order…mostly Ron from the older male members. One had even attempted to take advantage of Ronnette while he was intoxicated. Oh the joy. Hermione snorted and shook her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir." She stubbornly kept a straight face, unfortunately her eyes gave way to her amusement.

"Mm, I'm sure. Anyhow, back to your previous concern. Harry's birthday is today, and judging by the look on your face I can assume you've read up on magical maturation?" Hermione nodded, her eyes wide and darting back and forth. "I…accidentally overheard the Headmaster discussing Harry's maturation before I came up here. Apparently, Harry has several magic blocks upon his core and judging by what Albus said…Harry would be in excruciating pain and turn very ill from the blocks preventing his core to reach its max." The twins dropped the book that they were supporting between them upon hearing this, just as Hermione's eyes started to water.

"Oh no…that's probably what I feel." Remus shook his head sadly.

"No, I have no idea, Hermione." Remus said softly and opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by a soft pop, in which Dobby appeared. Dobby looked around the room suspiciously, oblivious to the curious looks he got.

"Dobby, what-?" Dobby raised a hand and silenced them all before he turned to glare at the corner of the Library.

"Nasty Wheezy." He grumbled before waving his hands in a complex motion. After the room flashed, he turned to beam at everyone, bouncing back and forth on his feet. "I's know wheres Master Harry Potter sir is." Hermione squealed excitedly.

"Is he alright? What's he been doing? He's not hurt is he? How did he get away from Privet Drive? Do you know how his magical maturation went?" She continued firing off questions to the confused elf, much to the amusement of the three other occupants.

"Miss. Grangy, Master Harry Potter sir is fines." He bounced a bit before sitting contentedly on the floor. "He's in sanctuary. I's can take sirs and miss ifs theys wants?" Remus chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully then nodded.

"That would be great Dobby, but we'll have to wait for later. There are order members still here and Dumbledore is still here." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think, if we all pack now, then we can meet at midnight in the Twins' room."

"Oh, Dobby must check Twinzey's room for nasty spy spy spells." Hermione's teeth clenched at hearing that.

"Good thing you two learned the muffliato or we would have been screwed." They nodded, for once looking too serious. Sighing heavily, Remus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Now all I have to do is make it look like I have nothing to do with your disappearance." Dobby brightened up at that.

"Dobby can bring Harry Potter's Wolfman here if he's be leavin." Remus blinked then shrugged, well…he needed to pack, right?

"Sounds good to me. Shall we meet in the Twin's room at midnight? Pack your stuff now, Ronnette and Gino went to the Burrow with Molly." Hermione and the Twins nodded before Hermione followed Remus out of the Library having required help packing since she couldn't use magic, leaving the twins to ponder where on earth Harry could seek sanctuary. Glancing at each other, they shrugged and started stacking books on top of the one they had dropped. If they were going to be gone for an indefinite amount of time then they wanted to take the books with them so the could research.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground - Hospital (approx. same time as Library) .o**O**o**O**o**

"Merlin…" Harry groaned, approximately fourteen hours since he was last awake; meaning that it was now around three or four in the afternoon of his birthday. Well, on the up side, he was stronger and knew a lot about his lineage…on the down side, he felt like crap. Complete and utter crap.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens." A voice chirped from a bed to his right. Grumbling, Harry shoved his face into the pillows, blindly waving a hand at them to go away. The person chuckled before he felt a pillow 'thwump' his back. "Oh, you can't get rid of us that easily, Harry. Besides, don't you want to see what we got you for your birthday, with the help of an overly friendly house elf?" Processing this, Harry's head snapped in the direction of the voice to see his Aunt, Cedric, Healer Dzetum, a hawk, Hedwig, and Dobby.

"As long as I can stay in bed; everything aches…like I'm just getting over a Cruciatus." He shuddered and rolled over onto his back so he could sit up, not noticing the awe struck looks on everyone's faces as he stretched and rubbed his eyes of sleep.

"Master Harry Potter, sir!" Harry chuckled and sent a smile towards the bouncing elf.

"Hello Dobby, good to see you. How're you?" Dobby beamed brightly before his smile fell the started tugging at his ears. Thinking that only bad things could come out of Dobby being so sad, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I's is fine, sir, but The Great Harry Potter's Grangy and Twinzeys and Wolfman are worried. Wheezy and Missy are evil witch and wizard, Dobby no like them." Harry blinked several times trying to put faces to the elf's nicknames. Grangy was an obvious one, which would be Hermione, Twinzeys would be Fred and George he supposed, Remus would be Wolfman, Ron was Wheezy, and Missy would be Ginny. Or at least that's what he thought that meant. Perhaps it's a good thing that the disjointed speaking confused him? If he understood that all too quickly then he would be worried about his mental health.

"If you think the first four are trust worthy then you can tell them where I am, but make sure you're not overheard." Dobby nodded happily, his ears flapping dangerously around his head, earning amused looks from the humans in the room and a disapproving look from the Goblin. "Maybe you should only tell Remus, then have him pass on the message to Hermione and the Twins." Dobby nodded again, now bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. Harry raised an amused eyebrow and shot a questioning glance to his Aunt and Cedric who were gazing at his face in amazement. "Er…is there a particular reason you're gawking at me? Dobby didn't try and put makeup on me again, did he?" Harry joked and noticed Dobby blushing slightly. Hey, how was poor little Dobby to know that wizards didn't tend to like being 'dolled up' like the witches. He had seen the senior Malfoy do it frequently so he thought it was a common occurrence for wizards.

"Maybe you should take a look at your arms and hands Harry, then we'll show you the rest of you." He raised an eyebrow at his Aunt but shrugged otherwise, turning his gaze to his arms. What his saw shocked him to say the least, but also amazed him. When he turned his arms over, he noticed the halves of the phoenix and flight. Silently he questioned what would happen if he joined the halves and was surprised when the surface raised to the front of his thoughts.

"Woah….that would be handy to say the least." He murmured, thanking Dzetum as she passed him a mirror so he could see the rest of the tattoos. "These are amazing. When Edgar said that the line had a distinct way of finding its members, I had never thought of it being like this. I had just thought that Edgar really liked tattoos." He blinked in awe when Dzetum conjured another mirror behind Harry so he could see his back. "Amazing, and you can hardly see my scars now." Everyone nodded happily and he smiled brightly, passing the mirror back to Dzetum and thanking her again.

"So….Edgar?" Cedric asked in amusement. Harry nodded and opened his mouth but Cedric shrugged. "Your guardian, I assume. Everyone that goes through maturation has one to help guide them on the proper path." Harry nodded in understanding then noticed all of the presents around him.

"Those are all mine?" Everyone nodded happily. "I think I might need to eat something first." They laughed and Dobby popped off, hoping to catch Harry Potter's Wolfman while Harry grabbed a large lunch.

--

"Alright Harry, let's start small and work our way up, yeah?" Harry shrugged and sent another glance towards the black hawk yet again, having done so through out lunch.

'_The package and letter is for you, young Master Potter._' A deep timber stated, causing Harry's eyes to widen slightly.

"I think I'll check my mail first if you all don't mind?" They shrugged and sat back while the Hawk flew over to Harry and gracefully landed on his knee that was bent in a crossed-legged position. "What's your name?" He murmured, carefully untying the package before stroking the breast feathers of the bird.

'_Like I told the younger Goblin, I am merely a delivery Hawk, I have no need for a name._' Harry's eye twitched and the bird titter in amusement, soon joined by Hedwig. '_But, if you have nothing against it, I would like to stay with you and young Hedwig._' Harry smiled brightly and nodded, turning his attention to the parchment scroll that was sealed with the Twins' ring and tied with a braided ribbon.

'_This is going to be bad, I just know it._' Harry thought miserably as he untied the scroll.

'_Indeed young Master, from what I gathered, the identical ones were very grim about the situation._' Harry's eyes widened as his head snapped up from where he had started unrolling the scroll to look the hawk in the eye.

'_Please tell me that this is just your doing and not some latent power trying to surface?_' The hawk tittered again, before nipping at Harry's fingers gently to get him to read the letter. Harry nodded absentmindedly before focusing on the letter, a frown appearing then deepening as he got through the letter.

"Well…that was vague. I'm almost afraid to see what's in the memory." He muttered, opening the box to see a portable penseive. "Anyone up to going with me?" No one moved and he bit his lip before nodding and dipping into the memory. Instantly becoming angered as the second memory ended and ejected him from the pensieve. "Shite." He cursed, ignoring his Aunt's scolding. "They were stealing from me." He grumbled, Dzetum nodding solemnly.

"Ragnok and Griphook are currently retrieving all lost funds from your vaults and has put a security measure on all withdrawals. You'll have to sign a magic parchment that will identify you and only let you withdraw." Harry nodded thoughtfully, still feeling angered and betrayed by the whole thing. With an absentminded wave of his hand, the objects were banished to the waste bin, and of course, he missed the shocked expressions.

"Well, shall I open presents then?" Everyone nodded, knowing he needed the distraction. The hawk gracefully glided into the air before snatching the present Cedric was holding out for Harry. "Thanks, Koli." He smiled at the hawk who chirped in shock. '_I would love to keep you around, if you'll have me?_' The newly named Koli bobbed its head up and down happily while Harry unwrapped a pair of mismatched socks that un-doubtabley came from Dobby.

And so it progressed; Koli, sometimes joined by Hedwig, grabbing a present and dropping it off in Harry's lap, Harry opening said present, depending on what it was his friends and family commented on the items, some teasing when a large stack of books appeared from Hermione. So far, he had procured several books most of self-defense, candy, clothes, Quidditch gear, and a voucher for a custom wand maker; now all that was left was a curiously, brown paper wrapped box that looked like a skinny shoe box. Once again, Koli took off only to swoop down and lift the present to drop off into Harry's lap.

"You know, Koli. I might get used to you getting things for me, you might want to stop." He joked lightly with the black hawk that had violet eyes. Koli made an embarrassed huffing sound and ducked his head slightly. He just chuckled and shook his head in amusement before opening the present only to freeze at what lay in the box.

"Harry?" Calla called worriedly as everyone crowded around the bed in concern, only to gasp at what lay in the box. "Oh Harry, those are beautiful." Carefully, she pulled out the black leather cord of a necklace that held a dull charm that matched the mark on his forehead. Tentatively, she tied the cord around his neck then watched in amazement when it readjusted itself to sit perfectly in the diamond shape at the hollow of Harry's throat. After watching the cord lengthen and the Rune shrink slightly, she spotted that the metal was now glowing with an internal light and the rubies, sapphires, and emeralds all sparkling with some unseen light.

"Am I supposed to wear the ring?" He looked up and noticed that everyone genuinely seemed confused. Shrugging, he carefully slipped the jewel incrusted band onto his right ring finger and watched as it automatically resized itself. "Well, now I know what these are for, they're part of my inheritance." He shrugged stretched his arms over his head, wincing as a couple of pops were heard.

"Nothing can ever go normally around you can they Harry?" Cedric questioned softly, staring at the slightly younger wizard in amusement. Harry in return just chuckled and shook his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"Of course not, that would make too much sense." Cedric snorted and shook his head. Harry yawned and scooted down in the bed so he was laying down. "If you all don't mind, I'm still rather tired…I don't think I'd be able to stay awake much longer. Thanks for the impromptu party everyone." They smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Personally, I think Mr. Potter has a very good idea. We should all get some rest after the stress of the day." Healer Dzetum yawned and waved her hand to clear up the room. "I shall wake yo-"

"Ah, good! You're all still here!" Pulifi panted and held up a finger, catching her breath. "I've got the gift madam." Dzetum beamed in understanding and waved her hands excitedly. "Yes, right." Pulifi turned and disappeared a moment before walking back into the room carrying a wiggling black puppy. "For you Mr. Potter, a gift for your birthday from the Goblin Community, she's half Irish wolfhound and half Northern Lights Hound." She beamed proudly as she set the excited puppy in Harry's lap. As soon as the pup was in his lap, a bright light flashed before dying away just as quickly. "Ah good, she bonded with you!" Harry just stared at the amazingly beautiful pup in his lap.

She had the basic structure of an Irish wolfhound but had a sleeker head and the fur was smoother and softer then the wiry texture of a wolfhound. Running a hand over the black and dark blue-black brindle coat of the pup he took in her markings. Silver toes on the back paws and a small silver tip on her tail, on her left hindquarters a multi-colored swirl that looked suspiciously like the astro-phenomenon that the breed was named after, on her right front shoulder was a glittering Milky Way galaxy in silver. But the part that drew Harry in were her eyes; deep blue, a color that he had only seen on the night sky, and Northern Lights swirls that were constantly changing colors and shapes.

"She's amazing." Harry breathed, still petting the puppy on his lap. She whined and nudged his hand slightly before looking at him with a 'well name me already' look. "Aurora, Rory for short." Newly named Aurora barked happily and immediately started licking her owner's face, much to the amusement of the others in the room.

"Very beautiful Harry." Calla said softly slowly reaching out and scratched the top of Aurora's head. After a few moments of Harry, Calla, and Cedric bonding with the new puppy, everyone settled down to get some sleep. Aurora curled up on Harry's chest, much to his amusement, and Hedwig and Koli perched at the headboard. For the first time in a while, Harry fell into a peaceful sleep.

**o**O**o**O**o. Grimmauld Place – Twins' Bedroom (approx. 5 hours later) .o**O**o**O**o**

"Shh, will you two be quiet?" Hermione whispered harshly, sending nervous looks towards the door. "Ginny was still awake when I walked out. I had to tell her that I had to use the loo when she started getting nosy. Luckily I had left some clothes hidden in there for me to change." She murmured and nearly jumped out of her skin when Fred wrapped his arms around his in a comforting hug. Ron and Ginny had returned an hour after Hermione had put her last item in her trunk, which Remus had immediately shrunk so they wouldn't notice. Apparently, Ron and Ginny were uncomfortable being at home while being the opposite gender and had returned to Grimmauld. To Fred, George, and Hermione? That just meant that the two youngest Weasleys just wanted to spy.

"Calm down Hermione, George and I won't let them hurt you, you know that." She nodded weakly against his chest, giving him a quick squeeze before pulling away. A few moments passed as the trio sat in the room in silence before the silence was broken by a soft pop.

"Miss. Grangy and Sirs Twinzeys." Dobby whispered, waving his tiny hand frantically. "Theys be coming, evil Wheezy and Missy is suspicious." The trio nodded and looked around, scanning to make sure they had everything before holding onto Dobby's outstretched hands. The odd little quartet disappearing with an almost silent pop seconds before the door opened, revealing to angry faced red heads.

--

"Dobby, where on earth are we?" Hermione whispered nervously, sending wary looks to the forest that surrounded the little cottage.

"Wolfman's home, Harry Potter's Grangy. We's be meeting him instead 'cause evil Wheezy's be plotting." Hermione grimaced at Dobby's poor English but nodded thoughtfully as she watched Remus exit his house.

"I really wish we could have done something more to our 'lovely' siblings." Fred grumbled, saying lovely in a deeply sarcastic tone.

"Later, Fred. Now I don't know about you three, but I'm anxious to see Harry." They all nodded and once more, the now quintet disappeared with a soft pop only to reappear in a extremely white and darkened hospital room. "Dobby?" Remus asked softly afraid to wake any occupants, suddenly nervous since they were in a hospital, but instead of finding the excitable elf at his side, Dobby was at a bed, shaking a sleeping figure.

"Master Harry Potter sir wakes up please." Harry grumbled from his spot under the covers followed by a matching growl from a dog. "Grangy, Twinzeys, and Wolfman is heres to sees you." Harry grumbled again and after a small flash of light, in which Harry unconsciously placed a strong glamour over his tattoos, he sat up, mindful of the black ball of fur on his chest.

"Alright, Dobby. 'M up." Harry yawned widely and scratched the whining puppy's ears before looking up to see his friends and mentor. "Hey guys, alright?" A crooked grin spread on his lips at their surprised looks.

"Harry!" Hermione finally yelped and flung herself towards Harry only to stop when Aurora started growling. Harry snorted and nudged the puppy.

"It's alright, Aurora, they're friends." He whispered soothingly, smoothing the pups raised hackles back down. After she calmed, Hermione stepped up to Harry, this time slower, before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Oh Harry, we were so worried!" Hermione sniffled and tightened her grip on him, causing Harry to cough slightly and pat her back awkwardly.

"I'm alright Hermione, just a little sore from the magical maturation and block removal." The person in the bed on his left shifted and grumbled, causing a wide grin to break out on his face. "Shut up or I'll make sure to wake you up Cedric." The voice grumbled again before a pillow came sailing over almost catching Hermione in the back of the head before Harry caught it and sent it flying back to the bed.

"Oomph." Harry snorted and pulled away from Hermione so he could see Cedric glaring at him. "Just you wait Potter, your dog won't always be around." Cedric grumbled before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What time s'it?" Harry shrugged and turned back to his guests.

"Uh…sometime after midnight, probably closer to one." Hermione said uncertainly, trying to get a good look at the other person. Cedric snorted and sent another pillow flying towards Harry, this time catching the younger wizard on the shoulder.

"Our schedules are all screwed up aren't they?" Cedric complained before sitting up and stretching his arms over his head.

"Well yeah…that would be my fault though." Harry grinned sheepishly, ignoring the snort from the other bed. "What? You know it is Aunt Callie, when have you ever known something to go right around me?"

"True, Harry." A soft voice replied, leaving the guests in severe confusion. Harry, upon seeing this, chuckled and sent the quartet a sheepish grin.

"I guess I should introduce everyone?" Hermione nodded happily. "Right, on my right is my Aunt Calla, formerly known as Petunia. On my left is…" He stopped suddenly and sent the person a look. Cedric shrugged and waved a hand. "You might want to have a seat first." Harry murmured and once everyone sat down he continued. "On my left is Cedric Diggory."

"What?!" "No bloody way!" "Wicked!" Came from Hermione, Fred, and George respectively; Remus on the other hand was oddly silent.

"Kind of hard to believe right?" They nodded and Harry turned to face Cedric with a curious expression on his face. "You know, we never got around to discussing how you're still alive." Cedric chuckled and leaned back against the headboard.

"Kind of hard to talk to someone who's nearly unconscious or is unconscious." Harry grinned sheepishly. Hey he couldn't help it that Dumbledore had placed several blocks on his magic then ended up being the blood and magical heir to Edgar Meztli, the original Phoenix Ancient.

**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**

**Dunnah! :D**

**21 pages in word, specifically written because I've been slacking when it comes to writing this story. I shall be writing more often for this story, but I like to keep my chapters long so there will be a little wait between chapters. Just hopefully, I won't take months in between like I've previously done. xD**

**I want to thank you all for the reviews and votes! Especially this one review I got…it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. xD How unbecoming of me. Next chapter is on its way to getting finished, so hopefully I shall post that one quicker and I won't be getting any angry PM's telling me to hop-to-it.**

**What to expect in the next chapter: Cedric's story and more from the mysterious NB, healing for Harry, shopping!, pranks on Ronnette and Gino (ah, I can't wait, suggestions are welcome –insert evil laughter here- xD) although they might not make it into the next chapter(being as it's completely pointless to do a prank when our fave group isn't there to witness it), some background information on Edgar and the Phoenix Ancients (including the tattoos on the inside of Harry's arms), maybe some confrontations, might work in some background on Mages, and some interesting tidbits about previous mentioned trunks. Possibly more if I feel like writing 10,000 words like I did for this chapter.**

**Oh! I forgot to tell you; I've been thinking, intensely, about the pairings for this story…and I've kind of started to fall in love with the idea of Harry/multiship. But I don't know how well everyone would take to that…especially since there're a lot of people that are still squeamish over male on male or female on female or even twin on twin (wink wink). BUT, and that's a quite large but, I generally don't care anymore…and I think the only reason that I might not write a multiship…is because I honestly don't think I **_**can**_** write it…and make sense. xD (sigh) And to think…I had a wicked plotline that involved Harry having seven people bonded to him (in more than just love-wise, bah haha) But personally…I've only ever found a couple of people that like the idea of a large harem including both men and women. Bah, you'll just have to wait and see what happens. Just promise me not to stop reading if you see a pairing you don't like. (pouts)**

**Guh…I'm rambling. I apologize….nah, not really. xD Any questions, thoughts, or suggestions are welcome. I know how I want my story to go, but I'm open to work other's thoughts in…it's always good to have outside thoughts on a situation, it makes things interesting. :D**

**Yes, I'm done rambling…for now.**

**Peace. Love. And all that malarkey. (cheeky grin)**

**Topsey**


	6. 05: Fried Turkey Club, Plans, & Allies

**The Phoenix Ancients**

**Chapter 05 – Fried Turkey Club, Plans, and Allies**

Tonks watched in slight amusement and annoyance as Kingsley paced back and forth in front of the chair that she was sitting on. Kingsley had been properly dressed down by the headmaster after the last Order meeting for, and quote, 'not keeping an eye on his weapon'. Now, Kingsley didn't know whether he wanted to be a part of the weapon hunt or not, thus leading the senior auror to the metamorphmagus with authority issues. Tonks had sat patiently through his tirade of Dumbledore looking anything but the leader of the light and had put in her two knuts in when the situation had called for it, but by now she was seriously annoyed.

"Why don't you just quit Kingsley?" Tonks snapped finally, pushing herself out of her chair only to walk to the door of the office. "If your ego has been hurt that bloody much, just quit the Fried Turkey Club!" Kingsley gaped at her whilst Tonks slapped a hand over her mouth, mentally cursing herself for letting that slip.

"You mean…" He trailed off, pointing a finger at her in an accusing way. Tonks grimaced and nodded.

"Remus and I noticed something not right about Harry's stay at his relatives, but by the time we got there to break him out the house was empty. I don't think I can ever forget how much blood was in his room, Shack." Tonks sighed and pressed her back against the door. "And I don't think we're the only ones that are trying to separate from Dumbledore's grasp, Mad Eye and Snape were whispering in the corner of the living room the other night. Caught a snippet of them saying something about Hermione needing protection from him." Kingsley's face set and he nodded, looking stubborn and determined about something.

"I'm staying, I may not like it, but I'll stay. Merlin knows that Granger and Potter need all the help they can get."

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

The overly white hospital room was deadly silent as a certain grey-eyed Hufflepuff finished repeating what the Mage that had visited told him. The reactions seemed varied from person to person. Harry and Cedric both wore the same expression of deep thought and curiosity; Hermione and Remus looked about ready to burst about Cedric having been visited by a Mage, let alone being alive; the Twins looked amused; and Calla was confused, having not understood anything that had just happened.

"So this NB," Harry murmured into the silent room, turning slightly concerned eyes to Cedric, "they said to just call for them and they'll arrive?" Cedric nodded slowly, his eyes locked onto Harry's, watching different emotions flit into view before disappearing again. "Think we could call them when we need to leave and see if they can assist us?" Cedric nodded and smiled lightly at Harry before he blinked suddenly, his eyes raking over the younger boy's body.

"Harry? Did you glamour yourself?" He asked wearily at the lack of tattoos on Harry's slightly tanned skin. The green-eyed wizard opened his mouth to say no but stopped then nodded slowly.

"I did when Dobby woke me up, I didn't know who he had brought so I covered it up." He murmured in embarrassment, shooting his friends worried looks.

"Covered what up, Harry?" Hermione questioned curiously, practically bouncing from joy of seeing him still. Drawing his bottom lip between his teeth he looked back over to Cedric, who nodded reassuringly. Sighing, Harry's face drew up in concentration as he waved a hand an inch over his body, removing the glamour on his tattoos. The newcomers gasped in surprise and awe at the violet spindly lines that appeared, being drawn in by the seemingly glowing light silver outline.

"Amazing." Remus murmured, standing from the chair he had been currently seated in to step up to Harry to trace the Rune on his forehead lightly, pointedly ignoring Aurora's growls. Harry blushed and dropped his eyes to the glaring puppy in his lap, trailing his fingers over her wrinkled muzzle from the snarl she was wearing.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned softly, coming to stand next to Remus and joined in tracing the lines. Cedric, sensing Harry's discomfort, stood from his bed and leaned against Harry's, gently pressing his arm against Harry's in comfort. "What do they mean? The mask like tattoo around your eyes, the Rune on your forehead, the Runes on your palms, the Rune on the back of your neck, the phoenix on your back, the dragon on your back, or the half phoenixes on your forearms?" She questioned softly, her delicate fingers scratching behind Aurora's ears now.

Harry blinked and looked up, noticing everyone was watching him now. Sighing again, he settled back into the bed, secretly wishing that the bed was big enough for everyone to sit on it comfortably. Therefore, he was a bit surprised when the bed expanded exponentially. Cedric blinked several times before shrugging and climbing onto the bed directly beside Harry, his arm pressing against the younger's again. After moments of contemplation, Remus, Hermione, Fred, George, and Calla joined the two on the bed.

"Well, to start with, the Rune on my forehead is the Meztli family Rune." His fingers gently rose to trace the Rune with a faraway look on his face. "When Edgar was alive, he was the first of his kind known as The Phoenixes in his time period, but to us they're known as The Phoenix Ancients." Hermione gasped softly, her eyes shining brightly with questions. Before she got a chance to blurt any out, Harry continued. "He was a seer to a certain extent and had learned of his demise. So, with sheer willpower and raw magic, he created a special inheritance rite. Through visions, he saw those that he thought worthy of his powers and passed it to those people that would gain their powers on the day of their maturation." Here, he leaned against Cedric's arm briefly, shocked at what the information planted by Edgar revealed. "Merlin was one, Gryffindor was one, and there are a couple of other known names as well. But they weren't as powerful as Edgar, who's tattoos were a bright cobalt blue with a white outline."

"What does the color of the tattoos have to do with anything?" Hermione grouched slightly. Harry wrinkled his nose at her.

"It deals with the power of the Ancient, Hermione." He replied curtly. "If you don't wish for me to continue, then you should just say so." Hermione looked ashamed and ducked her head.

"Sorry, I wanted to hear more about the history and the meanings of the markings, I didn't see a point to the colors. I apologize, please continue Harry." Harry sighed and nodded tensely, focusing on the warmth in his arm from Cedric.

"Well, the power to color relationship was based on the colors of the rainbows. Red was weakest and violet was the most powerful." Everyone's eyes widened at that and Harry nodded, showing he understood. "The outline color is completely different though; it goes from the darkest of black and up to the brightest white, with all shades in between, showing the intentions of the heir." Cedric tensed and brushed a careful finger over the line on Harry's exposed right forearm.

"But yours are light silver?" He questioned softly and Harry nodded yet again, turning his gaze down to the snoozing Aurora.

"It's because I've used some dark curses and have 'taint' on my magic core from Voldemort." He grumbled, brushing an annoyed finger over his scar.

"Taint, Harry?" Fred questioned, looking on in amazement, curiosity, and concern.

"Yes, taint. As in, if the heir were to be exposed to nothing but 'light' magic all his life and was pure of heart, then his would be the brightest white. But if the heir was exposed to a mixture of magic, 'light' spells, 'grey' spells, and 'dark' spells, but has a pure heart than the outline will be grey. In my case, I have a pure heart, though I do have my malicious moments when it comes to certain things, and I was exposed to potentially harmful magics at a young age. Thus my outline being silver." Everyone nodded in understanding, though Calla seemed a little worried about his confession of malicious moments.

"I'll have to remember to ask you about the air quotes you used on the titles of magic after you're done, Harry." Remus murmured, watching the boy carefully. Harry nodded in understanding before continuing his tale.

"Hmm…where was I?" He tapped his chin slightly then nodded. "That's right, Godric was a reddish-gold with an ashen white outline…Merlin was indigo with a silver outline. So Godric was weaker magically than Edgar, while Merlin was stronger by a bit." At the confused looks, he explained further. "Cobalt blue is between blue and indigo." They nodded and waved for him to continue. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes lightly, fighting off the sleep that he was ready for. "The Runes on my palms are the deconstruct of the family Rune, but provide me with an ability for two apposing elements; Fire for the sun and Water for the moon." Cedric's finger paused in the soothing tracing before starting again, though this time it was a little shaky.

"Wow, elemental control?" George asked in shock. "It was rumored that Godric favored Fire and Merlin favored Water." Harry nodded, a small smile on his face as he pressed his back against the headboard of the bed.

"Kind of a shock, isn't it?" The group nodded and waved for him to continue eagerly. Chuckling, his conceded. "The Rune on the back of my neck is my personal Rune; Godric had a griffin, Edgar didn't leave what Merlin's was though." Harry frowned thoughtfully before shrugging. "Anyhow, the Phoenix on my upper back is embedded with protection magics; even I'm not entirely sure what it means completely. The dragon is similar to the phoenix above it, but its magic is used for offense if I am incapable of protecting myself. The two on my back are supposed to be in the shape of animals that I can relate to." He frowned again, ignoring the soft giggling from Calla.

"Harry, what's Hogwarts' motto?" He blinked at his Aunt then cracked a grin.

"'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.' Well…I suppose that makes sense for the dragon; but what of the phoenix?" Remus frowned thoughtfully then smiled.

"You've grown fond of Fawkes, I take it?" At Harry's nod, he continued. "Well, if a wizard like you is going to relate to, then it would be a phoenix. They are curious, cunning, intelligent, loyal, and brave; ring any bells?" Cedric chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair with his free hand, earning a playful scowl from said boy.

"Anyhow, continuing. The mask and tattoos on my forearms are part of the legacy. The more intricate the mask, the higher up in rank the heir is." He paused briefly and held his arms palm up over Aurora. "The two halves are just interesting tattoos when apart, but if brought together under times of duress and great need, it empowers the body using ambient magic from my surroundings, and….could potentially create a beam of pure magic that exits from the opposite sides of my arms, if struck by the magic the object or person would be…destroyed." He dropped his gaze to Cedric's hand, which was clutching his thigh in shock, only to fight down the pleasure that it shot through him. "If it strikes a person, the soul is ripped from the body and practically shredded, while the physical body disintegrates." Cedric dropped his head to Harry's shoulder in shock, the other's looking as if they were about to faint.

"That…." Remus started but was unable to finish.

"Bloody brilliant, scary, but brilliant." The twins exclaimed, unknowingly quoting their little brother. Harry's nose wrinkled in disgust at the reminder of the youngest Weasley male, as did Hermione's.

"Anyhow, other than that, there's not much to tell about the Ancients." He shrugged, careful of Cedric's head that he was trying to ignore. Remus nodded then yawned, which seemed to set everyone off into yawning as well. "I think we should get some sleep." After everyone agreed, they climb off the now shrinking bed, with Remus conjuring recliners for the guests to sleep in. Cedric, however, failed to move and when Harry looked over his heart fluttered at the sight of Cedric already asleep on his shoulder.

"I can move him for you Harry?" Remus asked softly but Harry paused then shook his head.

"Don't, he's been having trouble sleeping. I'll be able to help him if he stays here." The werewolf nodded in understanding, knowing Harry had dealt with nightmares as well, and settled into his chair for a night's sleep. Scooting down in the bed, he almost laughed loudly when Cedric frowned at the loss of contact and scooted down to place his head on Harry's chest this time, instantly freezing the green-eyed wizard.

Conflicting emotions passed over Harry's face as he tried to shift without waking Cedric. Harry had of course, had a simple crush on the older Hufflepuff in his third year, when the 'puff had visited him in the hospital wing apologizing profusely. Harry had thought that Cedric was truly only the fourth person to see him as just Harry. Hermione, Fred, and George having taken the spots before him. The Hufflepuff had been kind, caring, and had even…flirted with him, carefully brushing the hair off his scar before placing a chaste kiss to the angry scar before heading off to his dorm. After that point, Harry had fought with himself about the consequences of crushing on a guy, let alone a guy that was three years older than him.

Cedric shifted against Harry, the hand that had been on Harry's thigh earlier rising to rest lightly on his stomach just above the waistband of his pajama pants. Tensing slightly, he looked down to see that the 'puff was still sound asleep and hardly realized what he was doing to the sixteen year old. Soft snores from the direction of the cluster of the chairs and his Aunt's bed signaled that everyone was asleep. Cautiously, as if afraid he might wake Cedric, his right arm wrapped around the slumbering nineteen year old's shoulders, bringing a delighted smile to the boy in question's face.

Sighing deeply, Harry pondered their relationship in his fourth year. There had been a tentative friendship and a hesitancy as they both skirted around their like for each other, though Harry didn't know about the other's feelings. Harry had found himself watching the older boy through lashes while at meals to see how the boy was that particular day, thus having learned some things about the other. Like, when worried the boy cracked his knuckles and bit the inside of his cheek, or when nervous he would tap his foot and drum his fingers to a non-existent beat. When he really found something amusing, his head would tilt back as he let out a full belly laugh, in which his eyes would shine brightly and his Adam's apple would bob.

"Go to sleep, 'Arry'." Cedric mumbled into Harry's chest, his hand pressing lightly against Harry's abdomen.

"Cedric?" Harry whispered, his voice quaking slightly from the pressure and closeness of Cedric's hand. Cedric hummed in acknowledgment, making no attempt to move. "Don't you want to get to your own bed if you're awake?" He whispered roughly, focusing on the warmth of the puppy curled up on his other side instead of the beautiful older male curled up on his right.

"No…'m comfortable here." Cedric murmured, and to prove his point, pressed closer to Harry. "Now go to sleep, you'll be grumpy in the morning if you don't." Harry chuckled unsteadily, before pressing his head back into the pillow. Practically pleading with himself to fall asleep before Cedric did anything else to torture him.

**o**O**o**O**o. Unknown Location .o**O**o**O**o**

A slight figure looked around in obvious worry as they approached a glowing Rune stone. Shadows crept up the dewy lawn, fast approaching the figure who was now praying silently.

"Stay where you are!" A male voice hissed from behind the figure, the speaker striding to the Rune stone with a look of disgust on his face. "Get back in the house woman, if you know what is good for you!"

"I will not, Lucius, I'm tired of your hate!" The female spat before whirling around and started chanting in an unknown language. The now named Lucius glared spitefully at the woman.

"You will pay for that Narcissa!" He growled, advancing on her. "Avada –" Before he could finish, Narcissa vanished in a soft light. Cursing her ten ways to Hell and back, Lucius stalked away, Crabbe and Goyle Sr. following along silently, none of the three seeing the cold grey eyes that followed the entire interaction.

"Perhaps I've been wrong, perhaps I should have listened to mother all those years ago." The grey-eyed boy murmured to himself before disappearing in a blue light of a portkey.

**o**O**o**O**o. Hogwarts – Headmaster's Office .o**O**o**O**o**

Fawkes trilled mournfully, wishing very greatly to be able to be with his human hatchling. Dumbledore sent the phoenix a glare as he started his fifteenth lap around his desk, pacing to try to come up with a plan to get Harry back under his control. Fawkes wasn't stupid, oh no, he was anything but stupid. But he had been tricked into service of the old wizard when he had carried a letter to the old man. Now, he was stuck with some kind of spell that would not allow him to return to his previous bonded or go to his new bonded. Stupid old man.

"Fawkes, shut up or I'll force a burning day on you." Dumbledore snapped, his gaze pointedly fixed on the floor. Fawkes gave the avian equivalent of a huff and flashed away to the dungeons where a certain greasy-haired potions master was busy with a potion.

"Threatened you again, Fawkes?" Snape murmured, looking up to see the phoenix bob its head angrily. "Don't worry, he'll get it soon enough. Your hatchling has come to distrust the old man." Fawkes trilled with laughter, bringing a small pleased smile to the usually surly potions master's face.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground – Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

Something was poking him.

Something was poking him _hard_.

Grumbling, he tried to move away from the prodding only to bury his face into the intoxicating scent of Cedric Diggory's chest. The older boy grumbled as well and wrapped his arms around Harry to bring the boy closer. The soft snores led Harry to believe that everyone was still asleep, so what was poking him? Opening a bleary eye, he turned his head to come face to face with a blushing Dobby.

"Dobby wanted to wake Harry Potter sirs before everyone else woke, Dobby didn't want Harry Potter sirs to be embarrassed when the others woke to see Harry Potter sir and Harry Potter's Ceddy." Harry blinked then yawned, waking Cedric up in the process.

"Harry?" He sounded confused then blushed as he noticed their position. "I'm sorry!" Cedric whispered in mortification, just now realizing that he had the younger male wrapped in his arms tightly with their legs tangled as well. Harry chuckled and sent a thankful smile to Dobby, who popped away after that.

"Cedric." Harry called softly, bringing the Hufflepuff's attention back to him. "Don't worry about it; I haven't had that good of a night's sleep in a long while. I thank you." Harry murmured before wrapping his arms around Cedric tentatively. Slowly, Cedric's arms circled Harry's waist again and pulled himself closer to Harry.

"So…you're not mad about this? Not disgusted?" Harry snorted and shook his head, his forehead pressed lightly against Cedric's shoulder.

"Why would I be mad about the strong warm arms hugging me? Why would I be disgusted to be held by someone I like?" Harry questioned softly, his voice shaking slightly, afraid of rejection. Cedric tensed as he took in Harry's words then relaxed, moving his hand to lift Harry's chin so they were looking each other in the eye.

"You mean…you like me too?" Cedric sounded so vulnerable, seemingly afraid of rejection as well. Smiling lightly, Harry nodded.

"Since my third year, actually." Harry murmured, entranced by the dancing grey eyes in front of him. "My fourth year, I tried to keep my distance but failed when you sought me out for friendship. I didn't know if I'd be able to handle being just friends with someone I liked." He paused, watching Cedric's lips near his. "Though, I think I was mostly afraid of what you would think of me if I said I fancied you." Cedric didn't even answer, instead he pressed his lips to Harry's in a tender kiss, relieved once Harry responded to the kiss. They might not have known each other deeply for long, but they did know things about the other one. Neither one of them noticed the soft gold hue that circled them as their lips met, signifying that something spectacular had just happened. After several more minutes of intense snogging, Harry pulled back reluctantly, placing a shaky hand against Cedric's chest when the older boy tried to follow.

"Wha-?" Cedric questioned softly, eyes flickering between Harry's eyes and lips. Harry chuckled and leaned in for a chaste kiss, not staying long enough for Cedric to respond.

"The other's will be awake soon, I didn't think you'd want to be caught in my bed snogging me." Harry smiled lightly before rolling onto his back. This was weird. He finally had the one person that he had wanted for almost two years, but he felt like something was missing. Cedric sighed slightly and rolled over onto his stomach, his arms rising to rest under his head as he turned to look at Harry.

"What's wrong?" He questioned softly, his eyes concerned. Harry shrugged, his brows wrinkling in utter confusion.

"I don't know how to explain it." Harry murmured, turning his head to look at Cedric. "After…kissing you, there's a part of me that's so elated that I can practically bounce in joy, like a part of me is completed. But…" The crease between his brow deepened as he focused his concentration inwards. "But it's like I'm still missing something. I'm happy with you, really I am, Cedric." He quickly reassured the downcast boy. "I could live happily if I were to just stay with you…but I think my soul is actively searching for more hearts…more souls to complete me." Harry whispered, turning on his side to get a full look at Cedric.

"I'm…I'm not enough for you?" Cedric whispered meekly, turning his face to bury in his crossed arms. Harry growled softly and ran his free hand lightly down the Hufflepuff's arm and down his side.

"You are enough for me, but I think Fate has more than one soul mate for me." Harry murmured, leaning forward to press a light kiss to the side of Cedric's head. "I'm sorry; I've made you feel terrible." Harry mentally started berating himself. How could he have slipped on saying that? Merlin's balls he was tactless. Cedric chuckled and shook his head, turning it so he could look at Harry again.

"No…I just overreacted. It's normal for wizards of powerful lineage to have more than one soul mate. I just…never thought that I'd be considered a soul mate for you…and I was foolish to think that you wouldn't have more than one soul mate, what with you being the Meztli heir." He murmured, touching Harry's cold feet with his own in reassurance.

For the rest of the time period, the two boys held a murmured conversation until the other's woke; talking about random things; Quidditch, any news of what had been happening, friends, and so on. Then, after an hour of random chatting they began to talk about their childhoods; Harry telling of what had happen with his Aunt, how his Uncle and cousin had treated him growing up, and so on. To say that Cedric was horrified would be an understatement. He was not only horrified, but he was enraged. How could anyone willingly beat on a kid, let alone a kid like Harry?

"Harry?" A voice called softly from the group of chairs. As he turned his attention to the chairs, he saw Hermione sitting up, rubbing at her eyes blearily. "Cedric?" She yawned and stood, stretching her arms over her head in an attempt to get all the kinks out.

"Care to join us Mia?" Harry returned, just as softly, as he scooted closer to Cedric's lounging body. Hermione paused, then smiled at the nickname before she nodded and bounded over to the bed, which grew slightly, so she could fit comfortably on the bed beside Harry.

"Morning you two." She smiled at them both brightly, both boy's breath hitching in their throats at the radiant smile she produced. Finding their reactions amusing, she wiggled closer to Harry and propped herself up on her elbows, then rested her head on Harry's shoulder so she could see them both clearly.

"Morning Mia." Harry smiled at her, the sentiment being repeated by Cedric.

"How long have you two been awake?" Harry blinked then shrugged.

"Dunno, we've been talking for a while though." She wrinkled her nose at him then pouted. "We didn't want to wake you. Besides, we weren't really talking about anything life changing, just our likes, dislikes, and our childhoods." At the mention of childhoods, Cedric's gaze darkened and he turned his head away from the two of them. "I'm afraid Cedric wasn't too happy about my living arrangements…" He trailed off then smirked as if remembering something. "In fact, I think he's reacting the same way you did when I first told you." He turned and poked Hermione lightly before returning to his previous position.

"So…what are we doing today?" Cedric grumbled, hoping to change the topic. Harry grinned at him and poked Cedric's side, earning an undignified squeak and a jump from the boy. "Hey!" He cried indignantly…in a soft voice so he didn't wake anyone. Harry just smirked before replying.

"Well, I think Healer Dzetum wants to pour some potions down my throat, I need to visit my vaults, Ragnok will probably be showing up with my family rings, and I need to go over a ledger so I can find somewhere for us to stay." Cedric and Hermione nodded in understanding and the three of them began to plan out the schedule for the day.

**o**O**o**O**o. Unknown Location - Palace .o**O**o**O**o**

A slim figure quickly strode down the hallways of the marble and gold hallway of her hometown's palace. She was due for a meeting with the High Lord and she didn't wish to be late, making her shudder to think of the consequences. As soon as she stepped into the lavish throne room, she kneeled and bent her head low, but not before her sharp eyes caught sight of the leaders of several other clans.

"Rise, Neowyen of Thalassian." Slowly, Neowyen rose and raised her eyes to meet those of the grinning Lord Tharama. "I have gathered my comrades and we have discussed your inquiry." Neowyen bit her bottom lip as her gaze swept the semi-friendly faces in apprehension.

"Have you come to a decision, milord?" She questioned softly, her fingers twitching in front of her in an odd show of nerves that wished to reach up and tug at her platinum blonde hair.

"Yes, we have my daughter." He smiled kindly and gestured her forward. After brief hesitation, she stepped forward and bowed her head respectfully. "We will train the young ones that you desperately care for. However, all of our clans need time to prepare, so I ask you to teach the young ones the basics of their world." Smiling brightly up at her Lord and the other leaders, she nodded vigorously.

"Of course, sires! I will train them in the things from their world to the best of my abilities." Tharama laughed loudly, his slim hand clutching his stomach in amusement.

"That is all we ask of you, daughter. Now," He sobered immediately and pulled out a thin mirror-like device, "I ask you to use this to keep in contact with us. Tell the young ones of the plans so they do not become suspicious of you." Neowyen nodded in understanding and took the fragile looking piece of glass to tuck it into her robes. "One of our seers has seen some sort of device that one of the young ones finds that changes the passage of time. So for now, I wish you to spend at least a year training the young ones. Build their stamina, work on incantations, brew potions, and study anything else you think necessary. If you can, spend more than a year training with them." At her confused look, Tharama held a hand up in a silencing gesture. "All will be explained later, my daughter. After you are finished with their training, then our kind will teach them our ways to make the learning of other magics easier. More will be explained after the training has been completed." Neowyen nodded and bowed in gratitude.

"I thank you milord and you all as well, milords." She intoned softly, a slight smile gracing her lips. After her dismissal, she exited the room quickly and left for her home.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground - Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

Harry sat on his now normal sized bed reading the journal of his mother that his Aunt had handed to him before the group, minus Cedric and Hermione who were curled up on his sides reading as well, left the room to get various things taken care of before they left the safety of the Goblin's underground. Calla, Fred, and George were all shopping for the items that they couldn't purchase through a catalogue, all under carefully placed Goblin glamours, while Remus headed back to Grimmauld so Dumbles wouldn't get suspicious.

After having three different potions poured down his throat, he had been informed what the potions did. The green one was a nutrient potion that would undo any damage from being starved by the Dursleys (as he now referred the spelled relatives as, since Calla wasn't truly herself), the red potion was to fix his eyes, and the pinkish-purple potion was for building his body to the state it was supposed to be in before the abuse. As the healer got ready to leave, she had left a stack of books for him to read, all on the abilities that had been unlocked. But instead of reading about his talents he had decided to have a lie in with his two friends, one slightly closer than the other, and read his mother's journal.

But right at this moment, Harry was seriously rethinking his decision. The information at the beginning of the journal had been undeniably wonderful for him. Learning of the things she had done in her childhood, going as far back as two years before Hogwarts. However, the last two entries were what had Harry shaking with disbelief, along with the chestnut-haired witch on his left. Cedric, while having already read the entry, was still shocked.

"How…how could she?" Hermione whispered frightfully, her arms wrapping around Harry in a tight embrace that was soon mimicked by Cedric. Harry shook his head as he closed the journal and laid it on his lap behind the whining Aurora, who sat up on his lap to turn worried eyes on her master.

"She didn't have a choice." He croaked out as his hands came up to cover his distraught face. "She knew that if they left, Dumbledore would stop at nothing to find them. It was safer for me if they were to stay in the trap and get killed, than going on the run from the 'greatest wizard alive'." The last part of his sentenced was sneered, his voice colored with disgust. How had he ever looked up to that man? The old codger was barely even half of the wizard Merlin was.

"He's right, Hermione." Cedric whispered once he saw the look on her face; the look that screamed that Harry didn't know what he was talking about. "They wouldn't have stood a chance against outrunning Dumbledore. He probably would have swooped down on them as soon as the stepped foot outside the wards to portkey or apparate away."

"Stupid old goat." Harry grumbled. Rory growling in agreement brought a slight smile back to his face. Sighing, Harry dropped his hands and dropped his head back against the headboard.

'_Perhaps, young master, you should read your books? That would provide sufficient distraction I think._' Koli blinked down at his, friend he guessed, with his bright amethyst eyes.

Pondering it, he nodded tensely and picked up the book on the top of the stack; _The Animal In You: Complete guide to Animagus and Multimagus_. Not noticing the questioning look sent at him from Hermione or Cedric, he opened the book and started reading, only stopping when Dobby popped in with lunch, or Dzetum walked in with more potions.

_Animagus: a magic user capable of self-transfiguration into a compatible animal while retaining all mental capacities. It has been recorded that most wizards and witches have an animagus form, but most are not powerful enough to perform the wandless transfiguration. It has been speculated that witches and wizards only have one form and that the form can only be non-magical animals. The only known case of an animagus with two forms, one of which was magical, was Merlin._

_Multimagus: a very rare magical ability that has only been known of in theory. An animagus with multiple forms that has the capability to selectively use certain aspects of their forms while in a different form, be it animal or human, also having the capability to use metamorphmagus powers, if the user has the talent, while in animal form. An example would be: an animagus with the form of a dog and a hawk would be able to use the sharp eyesight while in dog form or in human form; or the animagus would be able to use the sensitive sense of smell and the sharp eyesight whilst in human form, or the user is capable of changing the color of fur, feathers, or eye color. No case has been recorded of this ability, only having been thought of in research._

Harry whistled lowly, his fingers trailing over the words in shock. Cedric and Hermione, being the inquisitive people they are, were getting annoyed at the lack of answers from the impressed Harry.

"Harry, if you don't answer me, I'll steal your boyfriend." Hermione snapped while waving an irritated hand in his face. Cedric and Harry both snapped their head around to look at her with gaping mouths. "Oh don't give me that look; I've seen the sly glances you've been sending each other." Snapping out of his shock, he chuckled and shook his head.

"Should have known you'd be the first to recognize it Hermione." She smiled lightly before tapping the book pages, reminding him that they hadn't been there when Dzetum had run the diagnostic spell. "When my Aunt and I first came to the Underground, Healer Dzetum ran a diagnostic spell on me revealing that I had a Talent Blocker, amongst other things, placed on me. The talent blocker blocked a few talents and being an animagus and multimagus were two of them."

"But…but how?" Cedric gasped, looking at Harry with wide eyes. "Multimagus has never been heard of actually happening." Harry snorted derisively and shook his head, his gaze falling on the words of the text still in his hands.

"I'm Harry Bloody Potter, the Boy-Who-Fails-To-Be-Normal." He grumbled, thumbing through the pages, pausing briefly when he spotted the potion that would let him sink into his subconscious and meet his animagus form(s).

"You know that's not true, Harry." Hermione questioned him worriedly, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. Harry shrugged, there was no use arguing with her.

"Doesn't matter Hermione, I can't do anything about it." He murmured softly, raising his eyes to meet hers briefly before falling back to the book, the spell that was under the potion catching his eye. It may be quicker to use the spell, but from what the book said, it would be painful since it briefly turned the person into their animal(s). "Think we could make this potion?" Cedric startled next to him slightly at the sudden change of topic but recovered quickly and went over the ingredients and steps, the brown-haired witch mimicking his movements.

"I think so, though some of the ingredients are a little pricy." Hermione fretted, earning another snort from Harry.

"Hermione, you're forgetting who I am again. In my school trust vault I have enough money for not only my schooling with the best materials and some extras, but there's enough there for my kids and grand kids to be able to go to school comfortably." Her jaw dropped in surprise as Harry and Cedric snorted in amusement, Cedric already having a vague idea of how rich Harry was.

"I…I didn't think you were that wealthy Harry." Hermione squeaked before blushing, causing Harry to laugh slightly.

"I thought you would have paid attention to the Weasel when he was being a prat about me boasting about my wealth." Shrugging, Harry silently summoned Dobby who popped in almost immediately. "Dobby, do you think you could get these ingredients from Diagon for us?" He questioned softly, holding the book out for the elf to take.

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir." Dobby squeaked before looking at the list before squeaking again. "But I's don't needs to Harry Potter sir. Potter Manor, Brennan Manor, and Meztli Castle has these potions in stasis they do! All Harry Potter sir must do is add the powdered moonstone from the storages!" Harry's eyes widened slightly before nodding in thanks.

"That's great Dobby, thanks." The elf beamed before popping away. "Now if only I could figure out how he knew about three properties which I didn't know about." Snorting in amusement, Cedric and Hermione laid back down on either side of Harry draping their arms over his midsection in a loose embrace. Harry shook his head and leaned his head back on the headboard. Was Hermione his other soul mate?

**o**O**o**O**o. Diagon Alley - Madam Malkin's .o**O**o**O**o**

"Do you think he'd appreciate us buying these types of things without him being here?" Calla questioned stiffly, glancing at the putrid green robes one of the twins put on the pile of robes for Harry.

"No, but who said I was picking things out for him?" Fred quipped, sending her a charming smile to which she rolled her eyes at.

"I'm going to finish buying the things on the list while you two expand your wardrobe." Poking her tongue out in a minor bout of childishness, she flounced out of the shop to finish shopping. Harry had apparently planned on going shopping at some point after his recovery, because his list did not include clothes of any type.

**o**O**o**O**o. Grimmauld Place - Kitchen .o**O**o**O**o**

Dumbledore paced furiously back and forth behind the chair at the head of the table in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. The two Weasley twins and the mudblood had disappeared in the middle of the night without nary a trace. Even Mad-Eye had trouble finding any trace of where they had gone. Remus Lupin sat with a barely concealed smirk on his face, his amber eyes shining brightly as Moony sat on the surface of his conscious mind. Snape and Mad-Eye were exchanging glances with each other; one thinking about what that smirk could mean, remembering from his school day, while the other pondered on the fact of Moony being so close to the surface. Nymphadora Tonks on the other hand kept snickering that she covered up by sneezing when ever one of the other Order members sent her questioning looks. Of course, after Remus had returned from the Goblin Underground, he had told Tonks about his visit with the Twins, Hermione, and Harry, skillfully leaving out the mention of Cedric and Calla.

"We must find the three children," Dumbledore finally called, "their disappearance worries me greatly." Remus snorted behind his hand before coughing to cover it up. Of course the old man was worried, he didn't have a bloody clue as to how three 'children' escaped from under his nose. Moody sent him an amused smirk, having heard the hastily covered snort while Snape looked as if he were about to break out into peals of laughter. Raising an eyebrow at the two, he turned his attention back to the pacing Headmaster. "I have no doubt that if we find Misters Weasley and Miss Granger, we will find Mister Potter. Find them post haste." With that, the white-haired wizard stormed to the fireplace which he disappeared back to Hogwarts through. Remus sat in his seat while the rest of the Order stumbled over themselves to get the job done. Too bad none of them would be able to find Fred, George, Hermione, or Harry. When the flurry of movement ceased, he found himself sitting across from Kingsley, Moody, Tonks, and Snape.

"Can I help you?" Remus asked quietly, his right hand raising to tuck under his chin in thought. Snape snorted in laughter, shocking Kingsley and Tonks, making Moody smirk, and Remus smile.

"You had a hand in their disappearance didn't you?" Snape asked, his eyebrow raised in question. Remus' soft, thoughtful look turned hard and calculating, looking for any hint of betrayal.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Severus. I suggest you forget the thought of it." He growled harshly, his left hand twitching towards his wand, ready to fling curses if need be. Unknown to him, his honey colored eyes shifted to bright gold, his wolf raising to the surface with the need to protect his cubs, having started thinking of Fred, George, and Hermione as his cubs along with Harry. Kingsley, Moody, and Snape slid their chairs back with their hands up in a placating gesture, small traces of fear showing on their faces.

"We're not here to hurt your cubs, Lupin." Snape soothed. "We want to help your cubs." Remus' gaze landed on the other three males in the room before nodding stiffly.

"Say what you have to say; I have to get back before he leaves." Snape exhaled sharply before reaching into the pocket of his robes, withdrawing a square leather pack that looked like it would hold a camera. Moody, Kingsley, and Tonks looked at Remus in surprise, wondering what the werewolf was talking about.

"There are potions in here that will aide him and his companions. I've made ten of each just for the fact I don't know how many others he has with him." Snape paused, looking to Remus' face for any hint of the number, when none came he continued. "There are fully completed Animagus Revelation potions in stasis, Insta-Read, Dreamless Sleep, Wit-Sharpening, Draught of Peace, Memory Potion, and a handful of Bezoars." After Snape was done listing the different potions, he slid the pack to Remus and gestured for Moody to continue. Drawing out a brown-paper wrapped box, Moody explained.

"Messenger notebooks, they're all connected to one another. All the kids have to do is set their password, attach their magical signature, and select their writing color." Remus nodded in understanding and placed the leather potions pack on top of the box. Kingsley shifted in his seat uneasily, earning amused glances from Tonks, Moody, and Snape, but an annoyed look from Remus.

"I'm afraid mine won't be quite as helpful as Alastor's or Severus'." The dark-skinned auror murmured, drawing out his own brown-paper wrapped box. "The box is magically expanded on the inside and is charm to be feather light." At the miffed expressions on his companion's faces he held his hands up in a placating manner. "I have a friend over in the States and he's always going on about how far behind the Times us Brits are." Tonks snorted behind her hand while nodding. "Well, when I was on 'vacation' two weeks ago, Billy dragged me to Turner's Alley and dragged me into a Magi-Tech store. They sold muggle devices that run on magic. So…after having a discussion with Tonks earlier today, I portkeyed back to Turner's Alley and picked up a hefty supply of devices. Unfortunately, the store wouldn't say how the 'batteries' are recharged. Something about the ambient magic." Kingsley shrugged and pushed a piece of parchment to Remus. "That's the list of all the items I picked up. If they need, or want, anything else, have them tell you then tell me. I'll get it as soon as possible." Remus nodded and looked at the list, his eyes widening in surprise. _Laptops, cell phones, TVs, VCR/DVD players, music players, several hundred types of music, video game systems, and several different muggle kitchen supplies_.

"Amazing, and you said these work in magic laden places?" Remus questioned, glancing up from the list to see Kingsley nod. "Think you can get me a cell phone? That way we can stay in contact with the kids." Kingsley nodded as Remus stood, carefully folding the parchment and slipping it under the twine that was tied around the box. "I can shrink these, correct? Nothing will be damaged?" At their acceptance, the wolf quickly shrunk the packages and places them in the pocket of his trousers. "Any messages that you wish for me to pass on?" Snape looked at Lupin calculatingly then nodded.

"Tell him to send word if he or his group need assistance in anything. I'm certain we could provide something for him." A stiff nod was all he got for a reply before the wolf exited the room hastily through the fireplace. Moments later, the Weasley matriarch appeared in the kitchen a sneer forming on her face at the group at the table.

"What are you lot still doing here? The meeting's over, now get out!" Narrowing her eyes at Molly, Tonks slowly tilted her chair back and propped her black, dragon hide boots on the table.

"We were discussing our assignments, _Molly_," The now magenta-haired witch sneered. "We were just about to make a pot of tea before you came barging in like a hippogriff looking for a dead ferret." What happened next was a flurry of movement, that ended with the three males on their feet with their wands pointed at the purple faced Molly Weasley while Tonks kept her spot in her chair clutching both her and Molly's wands with a triumphant smirk on her face. "Be careful who draw your wand on, Molly. You should know better than to draw your wand while in the room with two aurors, an ex-auror, and a Defense Against the Dark Arts Master."

"Give me my wand." Molly blustered, looking every bit like the hippogriff Tonks just got done detailing. Clucking her tongue, Tonks shook her head.

"Nah, I'll hang on to it. You'll get it back once we've finished discussing our assignments. Now be a dear and go check on your _precious babies_. I'm sure they're still having problems with the unknown gen-" Snape's calloused hand clamped firmly over the magenta-haired witch's mouth.

"Miss. Tonks has a point Weasley. Last I heard, young Gino and Ronnette were…amusing themselves with their new found body parts." Molly's eyes widened before she darted out of the kitchen, her heavy footfalls the only sound echoing through the now silent kitchen. Snape moved his hand off the smirking witch's mouth with an amused smirk of his own.

"You know," Tonks started, buffing her nails on her violent orange shirt, "Maybe I should have let the sorting hat put me in Slytherin." Snape coughed in shock while Tonks giggled. "You know Harry was supposed to be in Slytherin as well, yes?" At the three shocked looks she rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly, with the home life Harry's had, how could he not be a Slytherin? The only reason he went to Gryffindor was because of the crap fed to him from Weasley and Hagrid. He was afraid to go dark if he went to Slytherin, afraid of looking weak if he went to Hufflepuff, and afraid he would look like a large bookworm if he went to Ravenclaw. He's what the Founders would have called 'the perfect student'." At Snape's snort, she sent him a sharp look before waving her wand in a complicated pattern around the room, locking and sealing it.

"He's not smart enough for Ravenclaw." Was the reply she got. Shaking her head in disgust, she waved her wand again, making a steaming pot of tea and tea service appear in front of them.

"When Harry was little and in muggle school before getting his Hogwarts letter, he always got punished for doing better than the whale cousin. So after that he stopped performing to his best level in class and on homework, but learnt the material. Soaking it up like a sponge." At the disbelieving look she continued after taking a sip from her cup. "After he got here, his grades were always Average, right?" Nodding in agreement, Snape waved for her to continue. "The very first day, Ron made crude comments about any Gryffindors that were studying. Harry, being the loyal person he is, decided then and there that he would stay average because his first friend was terrible in class."

"But that's ludicrous!" Kingsley yelped, his tea cup clattering to the table in his shock. "Why would he hurt himself just to please….Oh. I see." Tonks nodded. "He didn't want to lose his friend, afraid that he would be unable to make any more friends. I take it the youngest Weasley boy had a hand in that as well?" Tonks nodded taking another drink from her cup as Moody growled.

"No wonder the kid doesn't ask for help!" The ex-auror's magic eye spinning frantically around in its socket, abandoning his tea in favor of standing to pace.

"I suppose that's why whenever he messes up his potions, they're never as severe as Longbottom's. They just released foul smelling fumes, changed the wrong color, or even altered the properties slightly." Tonks nodded, a smile on her face now.

"Second year when you were missing those ingredients," Tonks started, earning looks of interest from Kingsley and Moody, and a hard look from Snape, "Harry and Hermione brewed Polyjuice in the Second Floor's Girl's Lavatory…well, Weasley was with them but from what I hear he just complained the entire time." Snape's eyes widened.

"But that's a complex potion that most seventh years have difficulties with!" Tonks nodded again.

"Hermione took care of it when the times called for it during the day while Harry used his cloak to take care of it at night. Hermione was really the only one that knew Harry was holding back in class, so she gave him her own set of homework, which he surprisingly did along with his class homework, quidditch, and saving the school." She paused and dropped her gaze to the table in sadness. "Of course, that all stopped at the end of his third year. Dumbledore found out and put mind blocks on him, strengthened an attitude charm, and locked all extra studying and all that was learnt away from both him and Hermione." Snape's eyes narrowed at her to which she smiled at innocently.

"How do you know this?" Smirking, she twirled her wand around her fingers before dropping her feet from the table.

"I've been suspicious of Dumbledore since he sent Siri to Azkaban. He knew Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, if he didn't, how else would he have been able to visit James and Lily?" At their disgruntled looks she nodded. "And yes, a snake in the 'helpless' badger's den made things so much easier, in school and out of school…along with being an animagus." She smirked and finished her tea, her amusement at their shocked faces showing on her face.

**o**O**o**O**o. Goblin Underground - Hospital .o**O**o**O**o**

_Knock knock._

Harry, Cedric, and Hermione's heads snapped to the direction of the door. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he cleared his throat.

"Eh…Come in?" Cedric sent him an amused look before returning his gaze to see a goblin backing through the door, seemingly carrying several large items. Springing from the bed, Harry rushed to the older goblin's side to take several items from the top of the stack.

"Ah, thank you Mr. Potter." The goblin called joyfully from behind the stack of boxes.

"No problem, sir. If you don't mind my asking, Ragnok, what's in all of these?" Ignoring the surprised gasps from the two still on the bed, Harry continued pulling items from the top of the stack the goblin was carrying.

"Ah, well, the one with the green string are the magically enhanced armor your Aunt asked for." Harry nodded, grinning in thanks. "Now the blue, red, and white are the various books and supplies that Miss. Evans and Misters Weasley picked up while they were out." Harry nodded again, dragging a chair over to the bed for Ragnok to sit at. "The box without any string contains your trunks that were left to you and the wooden box is for your House Rings." Nodding yet again, Harry picked up the wooden box before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"So, do I just slip the rings on?" Ragnok nodded and gestured for Harry to continue. Taking in a breath, Harry opened the wooden box to reveal four metal rings, a wood-like ring, and a two and a half inch black leather cuff.

"The gold ring with a ruby lion with the wands crossed is the Potter ring." Harry nodded and slipped it onto his right index finger, only to gape as it disappeared from his finger and bled into the Meztli ring. "The silver ring with a black grim with a sword and wand crossed is the Black ring." Again, Harry slipped the ring onto his index finger, and just like the last it bled into the Meztli and Potter rings. "Now, since it was stated in their will for you to gain access to the Evans' and Brennan's vaults, you're the heir. So the gold ring with the opal owl in flight is the Brennan ring and the silver ring with the leaf and flower motif is the Evans ring." Nodding, the two rings made their way onto his finger, now having a five crest ring. "Now, the fun part. The dark red-black wooden ring goes with the Meztli family and is usually worn on the right thumb; the ring will help you along your journey in ways that no one is sure of." Harry nodded and slipped the ring onto his right thumb as suggested, instantly feeling a comforting presence in his mind.

"Woah." Harry breathed, blinking in surprise. So this ring was his connection to a twin that every Meztli heir had? Since he had felt the presence that meant that his 'twin' already had their ring. Blinking, Harry shook his head before sending a sheepish smile to those watching him with concern. "It's nothing; it'll probably confuse you all more than making sense." Ragnok nodded in understanding before gesturing to the box still in his hands.

"The leather cuff also belongs to the Meztli family; however, unlike with the ring, the use of the cuff is known amongst the goblins." Harry raised an eyebrow and gestured for the goblin leader to continue. "It's generally worn on the left wrist and once it adjusts itself your magical animal guide will emboss on the leather in your tattoo color. The animal guide acts as a connection between the physical plane and the astral plane if you wish to communicate with the dead." Harry's eyes widened and fixed on the seemingly normal black leather cuff.

"By communicate, do you just mean…like sending a letter but only instead of writing it would be voiced?" Ragnok nodded with a small smile. "And I can contact anyone? It doesn't have to be just the people I know?"

"Correct. If you so wished, you'd be able to contact say…the four founders." Hermione perked up and squealed, wrapping her arms around Harry's neck from behind.

"Wow." Harry breathed again before slipping the cuff onto his wrist, and like Ragnok said, once it resized an embossed stag in vibrant violet appeared.

"I must take my leave now. All of your account discrepancies have been settled and in the box with your trunks you will find the folder with appropriate housing. I suggest coming back later to go over any other properties. Good day." With that, Ragnok walked out of the hospital room with a pleased grin on his pointy face. Harry was busy looking at the cuff on his wrist with awe while Hermione and Cedric leapt from the bed to take a look at the purchases. While the two were looking at the armor, Harry's eyes glazed over as a strong and calming voice spoke in his mind.

"_Your parents wish to tell you that they and your ancestors wish to speak to you face to face; a nap should suffice I think young one._" Nodding slowly, Harry turned his gaze upon Hermione and Cedric before letting out a large yawn.

"I think I'm going to take a nap before we head down to the vaults." Cedric looked up with concern shining in his eyes.

"You alright Harry?" Harry smiled and nodded, touched that someone was concerned for his wellbeing.

"I'm fine Ced, but I'm still a little tired. You two should look over the property lists while I'm asleep okay?" They nodded so he laid down, almost falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Unknown to him, the two curled up next to him instead of looking over the list, sandwiching him between their bodies in a tight embrace.

**o**O**o**O**o. Harry's "Dream" .o**O**o**O**o**

After a few moments of floating in a weird, suffocating blackness, Harry landed on something soft suddenly surrounded by white; the walls, floors, ceiling, furniture, everything white.

"Wha-?" Harry started but was stopped when he was tackled from the side by a black blur that started licking his face. Crying out indignantly, he roughly pushed the dog off of him before doing a backwards somersault, landing in a slightly crouched position. "Stupid mutt." He grumbled good naturedly, wiping dog slobber from his face.

"Padfoot, leave him alone!" Came a slightly familiar voice. Looking up, he noticed his mother, father, Sirius, Godric Gryffindor, Edgar, and a handful of people that he didn't know. "Heya son." James chirped bounding over to his slightly shell shocked son to sweep him up in a hug. "Merlin you look amazing Harry!"

Harry coughed, watching everyone, minus Edgar and Godric to a point, look at him in slight awe. He may be the bloody Boy-Who-Lived and has been stared at non-stop for the past five years, but he didn't think he could ever get used to people looking at him like that. Sirius chuckled softly at seeing his godson's discomfort that no one other than himself, Lily, and Edgar noticed. Clearing his throat, Edgar stepped up to Harry, slapping his shoulder in fatherly affection.

"I knew you'd be powerful, young one." Edgar whispered proudly, knowing that they could all hear him. "If there were more colors after violet your magic would have picked one of those." Harry blushed and ducked his head, still not used to anyone complimenting him in such a manner. "Anyhow, on to the reason we're all gathered here." Clapping his hands once, the 'room' changed from blinding white to soft soothing colors. Medium blue walls, cream carpet, black floorboards and trim, the furniture turned to black leather, the ceiling took on the appearance of a starry night sky, and a fireplace appeared with a crackling fire.

Gesturing to the comfortable looking chairs and couches, Edgar regally sat in a chair closest to the fire, patiently waiting for the others to join him. He knew the reason why Harry was allowed to have a visit tonight and he wasn't too sure how his young heir would handle all the information that he would likely receive tonight. He himself had a few more details that he needed to explain to the young lad, he just hoped the kid could handle the details. Clearing his throat again, he leant forward with his elbows resting on his knees, before opening his mouth to start explaining certain things.

**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**O**o**

Neowyen is pronounced nay-o-win. Like Eowyen from LoTR

**--**

**Whoo!**

**Heh. Aren't you proud? New chapter up in less than a month? xD**

**Okay, now I know I didn't put in a whole lot of shopping, but honestly…I don't like reading about shopping because it makes me want to run out and spend all of the money in my bank account. Blech. So, I've spared everyone the gruesome details of shopping. Calla, Fred, and Georgie bought stuff, sent it back to Gringotts, and shopped some more. Simple, yeah? I said NB would be in this chapter and I did put them in briefly…but they should make an appearance in the upcoming chapters most definitely. Uh…what else. Ah! Ron and Ginny gender bender! Yes…Snape made a funny. Be proud! Another thing…should I make them be stuck in the opposite gender? A recent reviewer brought it up and it would be hilarious…maybe keep them in Gino and Ronnette form until Hoggywarts starts? xD More pranks on the evil Wheezy and Missy shall happen, probably more so when Hoggywarts starts…but I do have some interesting pranks that some of the adults would willing pull on the three red-headed (insert censor beep). Oh, background on Mages will happen next chap when NB appears…mm…OH!**

**Pairings. (grins mischievously) Those of you that have problems with slash…should most likely stop reading this story. Yes, Cedric and Harry are a couple as of right now…but there will most likely be more bodies to keep the two gorgeous men warm at night. (wink wink)**

**Erm. What else….meh, I guess I can outline some of what's to come next chapter, yeah? A trip to the Potter, Evans, Brennan, and Gryffindor vaults; maybe some bonding with Rory; the group's new abode; something completely cool that I would give an arm for if it were real; the trunks; finishing the 'dream'; and…maybe, that's a big maybe, I might work in a little contact with Harry's "twin".**

**Yup yup.**

**Don't forget, if you want to see something funny happen to Ron and Ginny, send in your ideas. Or if you have any ideas period, they'd be welcome.**

**Till next chapter!**

**Peace. Love. And Alex Gaskarth. :D**

**Topsey**


	7. Of polls and apologies

You're all going to hate me, I'm sure. I tried writing the rest of the next chapter, but I can't put my heart into it. I had planned out 20-some chapters for this story, but my interest in it is waning. So…I'm leaving it to you all to decide what you want me to do. There's a poll on my profile, look at it then vote. It'll close on Harry's birthday (that's July 31st) and I'll post another of these stupid author's notes to let you know what was decided.

Again, sorry. =/

I blame those plot bunnies…and ADD.

Is it sad that I'm bored by my own story? Meh.

--cuddles Usa-chan--

Vote, yeah?

xoxo  
Topsey


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